REMAKE AVENUE: The Guardsman, 1931 and The Chocolate Soldier, 1941

Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt

The Guardsman, 1924

New York's Theatre Guild, the post-WWI iteration of the Washington Square Players was looking for a boost to their box office in 1924 to accompany and add to their lustre as the home of theatrical integrity and innovation. The Board's Theresa Helburn suggested Ferenc Molnar's The Guardsman with the stars Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne. The well-known actors were married in 1922 but were not renowned as a team as they would be after The Guardsman.

The Guardsman had not found success in New York in 1911. It needed some tweaking and some actors who could put across the light comedy. In Lunt and Fontanne the Guild found actors who put the play above themselves and were willing to work for the negligible salary afforded by the group. The work they put in with perfecting natural, overlapping dialogue and attention to costuming details paid off with great success. Alexander Woolcott in the New York Sun declared "...those who saw them last night bowing hand in hand, for the first time, may well have been witnessing a moment in theatrical history." 

The Actor, after six months of marriage, is growing suspicious of his wife The Actress. She sighs and sits alone in the dark. Is she longing for past or future lovers? The Actor must know! He works up a disguise, a Russian guardsman who woos The Actress to test her fidelity. When the ruse is discovered at the end of the play we are left to wonder if she knew all along or was his performance as perfect as he imagined. For the audience to care about these characters was up to the actor and actress behind them. The 248 performances, plus tours attest to the Lunts' achievement. Support in the production came from Dudley Digges as The Actor's friend, The Critic, and Helen Westley as The Actress's confidante, Mama.

While on tour with Elizabeth the Queen in 1931 a meeting with Irving Thalberg led to the Lunts signing with MGM to make a film of The Guardsman. The Lunts were paid $75,000, did not have to do any publicity for the film, and had their choice of director between Sidney Franklin or Robert Z. Leonard. Franklin got the assignment of directing Ernest Vajda's screenplay.

Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt

The movie opens with a scene from Maxwell Anderson's Elizabeth the Queen to establish the characters of The Actor and The Actress, and then we are off to the races with the moody Actor bemoaning to his amused friend The Critic played by Roland Young that he has lost his love. Mama played by Maude Eburne encourages The Actress's melancholy by bringing up the "good old day" before her marriage.

Alfred Lunt, Roland Young

Lunt cracks me up as The Actor goes from the depths of despair to the self-satisfied autograph giver, to the manic man in disguise. Fontanne is a delight gowned by Adrian, languorously teasing along her husband's moods as she plays her winning game. Roland Young is a special treat as he discovers what The Actor is planning. Young and Lunt, in his over-the-top guardsman disguise, have a chase through the street that rivals any gallop by Keaton or Chaplin.

Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne

While Mama and the maid Liesl played by Zasu Pitts believe the old days have returned with the mysterious lover and do their best to protect what they believe are The Actress' interests, The Critic watches with interest the chess match going on between the couple. Will The Actor have his worst fears realized or will his fondest hopes come true? What does The Actress know and how long did she know what lurked behind that absurd costume and accent?

Lunt and Fontanne were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 1932 Academy Awards. There were three nominees in each category with Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Wallace Beery in The Champ tied for the win. Helen Hayes won for The Sin of Madelon Claudet over Lynn Fontanne, and Marie Dressler for Emma.

Disney's Parade of Award Nominees was created for the 1932 Academy Awards with caricatures of the nominees by Disney Legend Joe Grant. Watch it HERE.

Oscar Straus' The Chocolate Soldier based on George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man was acclaimed by audiences and critics upon its debut in 1908 and has enjoyed many revivals. The only exception to the operetta's popularity was the notably grumpy (he was probably born that way) GBS.

MGM signed the Metropolitan Opera star Rise Stevens in 1941 and for her film debut teamed her with Nelson Eddy in The Chocolate Soldier directed by Roy Del Ruth. Retaining most of Straus' songs and tossing in some Wagner, Mussorgsky, and Saint-Saens, they used The Guardsman as their "book" in place of Shaw.

Rise Stevens, Nelson Eddy

Instead of dramatic stars, here The Actor and The Actress are Karl and Maria, operetta stars in a popular hit. In addition to Karl's suspicions regarding Maria's fidelity, he also fears she is longing to leave him for grand opera! Why else would she give musical evenings at home trilling Saint-Saens to the applause of invited guests?

Rise Stevens, Nelson Eddy

Nigel Bruce supports as the friend The Critic named Bernard. Florence Bates is Mama or Madame Helene. Liesl the maid is played by Nydia Westman in the same step-behind-the-rest-of-the-world manner of Zasu Pitts.

Driven mad by his desperation to discover a truth he doesn't really want to discover, Karl comes up with the ingenious plan of trapping Maria into doing something he doesn't want her to do. Here, perhaps due to the softening influence of the music or the behest of the production code or the studio's own sensibilities, we are left in no doubt as to Maria's knowledge of the trick being played by her foolish husband. After her first encounter with "the guardsman", she takes one of Karl's 8 x 10s and draws on the ridiculous beard to confirm her suspicions.

Nelson Eddy, Rise Stevens, Chorus

Musical production numbers are integrated into the plot by showing the couple at work. How much you enjoy that sort of thing will determine how much you enjoy this musical version of The Guardsman. I am a fan and enjoyed the playing of the witty plot and the music equally. Rise Stevens looks lovely and must have made a good impression on audiences of the time. Nelson Eddy gives a committed comic performance that is a favourite of mine. My one quibble is that Technicolor would have given the film an extra little boost in terms of zing. You may enjoy the trailer HERE.

Of note: 

Rise starred in a television production of the original The Chocolate Soldier on NBC opposite Eddie Albert in 1955.

Grand Old Movies enlightened me to the fact that MGM gave us a third version of the story in Two-Faced Woman, 1941 starring Greta Garbo, who tests Melvyn Douglas. George Cukor directed the proceedings.

Source:

The Fabulous Lunts by Jared Brown

Atheneum, 1988

CAFTAN WOMAN'S CHOICE: ONE FOR SEPTEMBER ON TCM

"Sure-Alarm. It's no pushover. It's the latest model."

"It's getting harder to make a living."

Four "professionals" band together for a job. Their profession is burglary and, as mentioned, it is not an easy living. There is underlying desperation among these men that led them to this job at this time.

Jean Servais, Robert Manuel, Jules Dassin, Carl Mohner as

Tony le Stephanois, Mario Ferrati, Cesar le Milanais, Jo le Suedois

Tony (Jean Servais) has just been released from prison after serving a stretch on his last job. He took the fall for his young friend Jo (Carl Mohner). Jo has a wife Louise played by Janine Darcey and kid whom they named Tonio (Dominique Maurin) after Tony. They comprise a tight family group, sharing laughs, playing with the kid, sticking up for each other.

Jo brings Tony in a job that is planned with Mario (Robert Manual), a minor mastermind with an understanding girlfriend named Ida (Claude Sylvain). Mario's plan is a smash and grab of a jewellery store. Nonetheless, both men acquiesce to Tony's idea to turn it into a bigger job; to enter the store at night and make that one last big haul that crooks dream about. A safecracker is required and Mario knows just the fellow. "Ever heard of Cesar the Milanese? They say there's not a safe that resist Cesar, and not a woman that Cesar can resist."

Once Cesar (Jules Dassin) is on board, the personnel is in place and the thorough preparation is undertaken. Timing is paramount as to police patrols and the routine of neighbouring shops. The alarm system is particularly troublesome as to its disarming. 

Marie Sabouret, Jean Servais

The nightclub L'Age d'Or and its denizens are integral to the telling of the story of Rififi. Mado (Marie Sabouret), Tony's former lover has moved on to the owner of the club, gangster Pierre Grutter (Marcel Lupovici). Tony and Mado's relationship is not over, and it is complicated. 

It is at the club that Cesar meets one of those women he can't resist. Singer Viviane (Magali Noel) entertains club patrons with Le Rififi describing the rough and tumble existence of the underworld.

Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel, Jean Servais, Jules Dassin

The job is carried off in an impressive silent 30-minute sequence. Silence is paramount to success as to avoid setting off alarms, mechanical or human. No word must be spoken, no misstep is allowed. It takes hours to gain the necessary access and the four must act as one to achieve their goal. The tension is beautifully built when the pesky police note something out of kilter in the street. The professional crook must be prepared for anything.

The big score is theirs and the London fence on board, but the victory celebration is short-lived. Cesar's fascination with Viviane and Tony's past with Mado bring the Grutter brothers into the gang's orbit in an aftermath of shocking violence and retribution.

Rififi is set in a world of grime; of blacks and whites and greys. Director Dassin and cinematographer Philippe Agostini take us through the nighttime hours and the rain-slicked streets backed by a haunting Georges Auric score.

Signed by MGM in the early 1940s, Connecticut-born Jules Dassin directed some polished entertainments such as The Canterville Ghost and A Letter for Evie. He moved into the dark world of noir with Two Smart People, Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves' Highway, and Night and the City. Night and the City was filmed in London for Twentieth Century Fox in 1950 and soon Europe would become Dassin's home base after being blacklisted by HUAC. 

Jules Dassin as Cesar

Rififi was adapted from a crime novel by Auguste Le Breton adapted by Jules Dassin and Rene Wheeler. Contract difficulties with the actor originally hired to play Cesar landed the role in the lap of our director.

Rififi would win for Jules Dassin the Best Director Award at Cannes and a Palm d'Or nomination, which went to the film Marty. The French Syndicate of Film Critics named it the best film of the year. The National Board of Review, USA named it the top foreign film, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award gave a special award to director Jules Dassin. 

Tuesday, September 8th the TCM daytime lineup is devoted to heist pictures: Armored Car Robbery, The Asphalt Jungle, High Sierra, Rififi, The League of Gentlemen, Ocean's 11, and Jack of Diamonds.

Warning: Do not look upon these films as instructional.

Note: Rififi is not being shown on TCM Canada. Look for Convicts 4.

MOVIE ROB's GENRE GRANDEUR FOR AUGUST: Medical Dramas

Each month at MovieRob's site a different film genre is explored through recommendations and blog articles. This month I was pleased to select the topic of Medical Dramas.

Link HERE to access the varied films from different eras devoted to the topic. Get your drink and snacks now because there is a lot of interesting reading ahead.

My contributions are the prize-winning Men in White, 1934, and an undercover caper, The Sleeping City, 1950.

THE 5TH WONDERFUL INGRID BERGMAN BLOGATHON: Indiscreet, 1958

Virginie Pronovost at The Wonderful World of Cinema is hosting The 5th Wonderful Ingrid Bergman Blogathon. Running from August 27 - 29, please read the wonderful tributes HERE.

"It's delightful to be married..."

- Anna Held

Cary Grant, Cecil Parker

International banker and diplomat Philip Adams thinks it is delightful to be married, in his own way.

Cary Grant as Philip Adams 

"I don't care to get married. On the other hand, I don't care to give up women. Since I have no intention to get married I feel honour bound to declare myself in the beginning. I say I am married and I can't get a divorce. Now our position is clear. There can't be any misunderstanding later.

Cecil Parker as Alfred Munson

"I know there's a big hole in your argument I just haven't come to it yet, but there must be."

Ingrid Bergman, Phyllis Calvert

Actress Anna Kalman is a successful yet discontented woman. Something is missing in her life. Perhaps she needs to meet the right man. Perhaps she wants marriage.

Ingrid Bergman as Anna Kalman

"When love is right everything is right."

Phyllis Calvert as Margaret Munson

"I don't know what you expect from a man. You know, there's a limit to how entertaining they can be."

Megs Jenkins, David Kossoff

Megs Jenkins as Doris

"She's so happy, Carl."

David Kossoff as Carl

"She is happy now, but for how long? What's to come of it? It can't go on like this. A man, a wife, another woman. I think about that."

Anna's sister and brother-in-law the Munsons introduce her to Philip and the attraction is instant. Before much time has passed, the two are in an affair that stretches from London to Philip's home base in Paris. Anna and Philip are in love and they aren't fooling anybody. The emotions are true yet there is dishonesty at the core of the relationship. How will it all turn out?

Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman

In a decade that would take Ingrid Bergman from Stromboli to Anastasia and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Indiscreet stands out as a romantic comedy with one of her finest co-stars, Cary Grant of Notorious, 1946. The chemistry between the attractive pair glows on screen. Ingrid, in particular, is so compelling in the role of an actress finding the love of her life that we can almost overlook the man that all of the fuss is about.

Miss Bergman's costumes are by Christian Dior. The setting is glamourous from Anna's charming apartment to exclusive clubs and ballrooms and theatres. Filmed in London by Freddie Young, an evening stroll by Cleopatra's Needle becomes a wonderland.

Charles Boyer, Mary Martin

Kind Sir

Norman Krasna (Dear Ruth, The Devil and Miss Jones, Princess O'Rourke) wrote the screenplay for Indiscreet transferring the setting of his play Kind Sir from New York to London. Kind Sir had a Broadway run of 166 performances starring Mary Martin and Charles Boyer. Frank Conroy and Dorothy Stickney were the Munsons and Margalo Gillmore and Robert Ross the domestics. Krasna's Indiscreet screenplay was nominated for a BAFTA and a Writers Guild of America award.

Stanley Donen produced and directed Indiscreet, his second film with Cary Grant following Kiss Them for Me. The director and actor would later collaborate on The Grass is Greener and Charade.

I believe Indiscreet, at 100 minutes needed a surer hand at editing. The script relies too much on our stars, fine as they are. While watching two enchanting and beloved stars fall in love is a pleasant pastime, the film lacks the energy necessary in even the most sophisticated of comedies. Despite its polish and star power, ultimately Indiscreet is fitful entertainment.

THE FOURTH VAN JOHNSON BLOGATHON: 23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956

Michaela at Love Letters to Old Hollywood is hosting The Fourth Van Johnson Blogathon. The fun begins on August 23 through to 25. Click HERE to enjoy the contributions looking at the career of fan favourite Van Johnson.

Director Henry Hathaway (The Dark Corner) and actor Van Johnson (Battleground) teamed for two interesting projects for Twentieth Century Fox in 1956. The Bottom of the Bottle was based on a novel by Belgian Georges "Maigret" Simenon and filmed on location in Arizona. 23 Paces to Baker Street was based on Warrant for X, a 1938 novel by the prolific and popular London mystery writer Philip MacDonald. Nigel Balchin (The Small Back Room) wrote the screenplay for the film whose exteriors were shot in London.

Playwright Philip Hannon has a success on Broadway and London's West End. We are not privy to the reason for his blindness, accident, or illness, but he has moved to London where he constantly rewrites his current hit. Philip had thought to isolate himself from his former secretary and ex-fiancee Jean Lennox played by Vera Miles (The Wrong Man), but the determined young woman has followed him to London. Philip must steal himself to hide his pleasure. Obviously, he has decided to sever ties "for her own good."

Cecil Parker (The Court Jester) plays Bob Matthews, Philip's obliging valet. He is presented as a loyal employee, yet pragmatic and humorous. Humour and loyalty will play a major role in the events of 23 Paces to Baker Street.

Van Johnson

Philip is familiar with the layout of his neighbourhood and looks for relief in a local pub. The landlady at The Eagle is the chatty and accommodating Estelle Winwood (Quality Street). Philip sips a whisky and tries to relax when his reverie is interrupted by the voices in an adjacent booth. The raspy voice of a "Mr. Evans" and the querulous voice of a young woman. The voices are discussing something that is about to happen "on the tenth." Money is involved. "Her ladyship" is involved. It is all quite sinister.

Van Johnson

Philip races back to his flat and the tape recorder he uses for work to preserve the dialogue he heard through the noisy interruption of a pinball machine, plus his impression of the characters and the information gleaned from the pub's landlady. The police are contacted and presented with the evidence of the conspiracy. Maurice Denham (Curse of the Demon) is very polite and very noncommital. After all, the words could have many interpretations and it is not much to go on.

Philip: "Look, Inspector, it seems to me you not only think I am blind but crazy. I told you it's my business to know how people talk, what they're thinking when they say things. And I tell you that girl was scared. No one's that scared just because someone suggests changing a job."

A week out from whatever is about to happen and Philip knows the police will not do anything. However, the playwright, the valet, and the ex-fiancee are doing more than their part to discover the parties involved. They find "her ladyship" played by Isobel Elsom (Monsieur Verdoux) which leads them to a name for the young woman which leads them to an employment agency for nursemaids/nannies.

Vera Miles, Van Johnson, Cecil Parker

The employment agency leads our amateur detectives to a phony job applicant which, or her to them. This link to the villains is followed all over the city by Bob in an amusing and interesting set-piece. Eventually this grunt work will pay off in most unexpected ways.

A desperate newspaper ad placed by Philip to locate the woman they believe at the heart of the matter, Janet Murch played by Natalie Norwick (Hidden Fear), brings a man claiming to be her father Joe, played by Liam Redmond (The Ghost and Mr. Chicken). In a tense and atmospheric scene, Joe attempts to murder Philip. Our playwright never considered their quest to be a game, but until this point he hadn't reckoned on the consequences being deadly. Frustration, fear, and anxiety are heightened as solving the mystery reaches a tight deadline.

Jean and Philip's romantic relationship see-saws back and forth while the investigation reveals more clues, the police come on board, and the scheme is revealed. In a well-made and edge-of-your-seat finale that surely must have inspired Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark, Philip Hannon faces off against the mysterious "Mr. Evans."

Henry Hathaway knew his way around crime pictures as evidenced by Call Northside 777, Kiss of Death, and The House on 92nd Street. 23 Paces to Baker Street is more along the lines of a "cozy thriller" than his usual work in the line. Filmed in Deluxe Color and Cinemascope, it has a very definite look and feel. 23 Paces to Baker Street is a solidly made and entertaining diversion; a perfect rainy day companion.

Van Johnson

Van Johnson was giving us some very interesting characterizations at this time with the alcoholic convict in The Bottom of the Bottle, the romantic soldier in Miracle in the Rain, and the return to his musical roots in Brigadoon. Philip Hannon is another performance that impresses.

LEGENDS OF WESTERN CINEMA WEEK: The Big Valley, The Great Safe Robbery, 1966

Hamlette's Soliloquy and Along the Brandywine are our hosts for the online celebration Legends of Western Cinema Week, during August 17 - 21. The celebration of your (our) favourite westerns will certainly brighten the summer of 2020.

The Barkleys of The Big Valley

Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria

Lee Majors as Heath

Peter Breck as Nick

Richard Long as Jarrod

Linda Evans as Audra

Today's celebration of Barbara Stanwyck and television westerns turns to The Big Valley, 1965-1969. For many fans, this series was our introduction to Barbara Stanwyck and the admiration and affection would last a lifetime.

Barbara Stanwyck won her second Primetime Emmy Award in 1966 for playing the role of Victoria Barkley. She would be nominated two more times for the series and win a third Emmy for The Thorn Birds in 1983. 

"I try to make Victoria Barkley as human as possible. She doesn't come waltzing down the stairs in calico to inquire as to the progress of the cattle. She's an old broad who combines elegance with guts."

- Barbara Stanwyck to the New York Journal-American, 1965

"Some producers think women did nothing in those days except keep house and have children. But, if you read your history, they did a lot more than that. They were in cattle drives. They were there."

- Barbara Stanwyck to The New York Times, 1965

The Big Valley was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis Edelman, writer and executive producer of The Barbara Stanwyck Show, 1960-1961. Over 4 seasons and 112 episodes each leading character of The Big Valley had the opportunity for feature stories and acting challenges. As matriarch Victoria Barkley, Barbara Stanwyck played in touching dramas, exciting thrillers, and even some comedy. Her filmography attests to her expertise in all those areas including performing her own stunts when the series turned to action.

This trilogy of television posts began with laughs in a western spoof on The Barbara Stanwyck Show and we will conclude in a similar vein with a look at a comic episode of The Big Valley.

THE GREAT SAFE ROBBERY

Written by William Norton

Directed by Virgil W. Vogel

Aired on Monday, November 21, 1966

Victoria Barkley and her daughter Audra have been visiting friends. The Barkleys, rancher Lou Johnson played by Bill Quinn and Lee Kreiger as the Station Agent are brought up short by three strangers who have ridden into the train station at Bixby Flats.

The Barnes brothers have plans to rob the station safe to get themselves out of desperate poverty. Warren Oates as Duke is the leader of the gang by virtue of his ability to shout the loudest, and deference to the leg he injured in the war.

Christopher Cary is Shorty. Duke may get all the ideas, but Shorty is more of a critical thinker. He's just quiet about it.

Kelton Garwood plays Elwood. He's the strongest and he may look like a lunkhead, but he is quite observant and has a sarcastic sense of humor.

The situation is ripe for a dramatic offering of The Big Valley, but the musical score underlines punchlines and a lighthearted tone even if you didn't notice the look on Victoria Barkley's face. She is not worried in the least. In fact, she is rather amused. 

Time out for the distraction of Audra's escape attempt. A mailbag over her head and into the baggage room she goes!

The safe is new and cannot be opened, in the normal sense of the word, until the head office in St. Louis provides the correct combination. This is where Duke starts coming up with ideas. His ideas are mainly violent in nature including all sorts of banging and physicality. None of these ideas have any effect on the implacable safe. 

Duke blames the gabbity, know-it-all woman who keeps interrupting! Guess who?

With the next train due at the station Duke gets the idea of using dynamite on the safe. There is dynamite at the old mine shack in the hills from whence they came. The brothers will take the safe with them along with Victoria and Audra for shields. The gabbity women will be kept in line with the threat of mailbags.

The robbery commenced because the brothers were hoping for a few hundred dollars to better their lives. They now learn that the safe holds $3000 so as their desperation increases, Victoria and Audra are free to work on the bandits.

Shorty is entranced with the Barkley princess and open to her talk of his real worth and breaking from Duke.

Duke is a little more open to Victoria's yakking when she saves him from blowing himself up with the dynamite caps. 

Audra: "I never thought I'd live to see the day my mother would be trying to blow up a safe."

A Duke-sized explosion.

A Duke-sized reaction.

Incoming!

Not-so-frightened hostages.

In the meantime, Nick and Heath lead a posse after their kidnapped womenfolk and the outlaws. The posse includes a sheriff played by Mark Tapscott and a railroad detective played by Joe Higgins. The detective has the combination to the safe which actually holds $20,000! 

Presumably worn out by his battle with the inanimate safe, Duke listens to Shorty's change of heart regarding their current path to a better life. Duke cuts his losses and rides off. Shorty expresses regrets to the Barkley women and goes to collect Elwood who has been watching for the posse.

The safe has been so banged up by Duke that the railroad detective can't get it open. He vows to do so if it is his last action on this earth! 

That's something Victoria and Audrey have heard before, and often on this day.

A fun episode that stands out among its more serious compatriots and the first thing I associate with Warren Oates, doing a bang-up "angry Festus" impersonation.

Today's effort concludes three posts strolling down Memory Lane with Barbara Stanwyck, TV western legend.