Sunday Movie Review: "Christmas in Connecticut" (1945) ❅

You see that snowflake up in the title bar? That snowflake means something exciting! It means the start to my Four Sundays of Christmas! :D

Christmas is my favorite holiday, and Christmastime is the very best time of the year for me. Shimmery presents under the tree, mountains of snow, Christmas carols lilting through the crisp winter air, warm winter clothes, and two weeks off of school - all of it has me bursting with the holiday spirit, and I adore it. 

Hand in hand with Christmas comes "movies," and not just because Christmas vacation allows me the opportunity to divulge in a movie nearly every night, but because there are so many awesome classic Christmas movies to watch! 

I think a great way to share with you my favorite Christmas movies would be to review one each week for my Sunday Movie Review. According to the calendar, there's a total of four Sundays in December, the last one being Christmas itself. On each of these Sundays, starting today, the 4th, I'll be sharing with you lovely classic Christmas films. The snowflake is my little emblem of approval. :)

Also, Sally over at the lovely Flying Down to Hollywood is hosting "12 Days of Christmas," which basically calls for twelve reviews of holiday films. I think she did this last year, but then again, I wasn't a blogger yet. ;) Anyhow, I snatched up a spot this year, and one of the films I will review for my Four Sundays of Christmas will also be a part of that blogathon. More on that when we come around to it!

Finally, I know I already have my little phonograph of songs for you on this blog, but with each post I'd like to include a classic Christmas carol to get you in the mood. So each Sunday this December, we'll have a classic movie and song, too!

This week's movie is "Christmas in Connecticut," (1945) with Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan. This week's carol is from Judy Garland in the 1944 movie, "Meet Me in St. Louis". (Some people consider it a Christmas film; as much as I love the movie, I don't really think so, because only a portion of the movie takes place on Christmas - and besides, the St. Louis Fair came in the spring!) Anyway, I'll just shut up and let you enjoy Judy's glorious voice:

 "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (1944) by the always lovely Judy Garland.

***

The post: Adorable and exciting, setting the mood for the actual film.

The plot:

In this welcome addition to the canon of mandatory yuletide viewing, Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a magazine columnist who touts herself as a blissful wife, mother and expert homemaker living on an idyllic Connecticut farm. Trouble is, it's all a lie. When her pudgy publisher (Sydney Greenstreet) cooks up a scheme to boost circulation by having Elizabeth entertain a war veteran (Dennis Morgan) on Christmas Eve, will her charade unravel? [from Netflix]

The starring players:

• Barbara Stanwyck as Elizabeth Lane
• Dennis Morgan as Jefferson Jones
• Sydney Greenstreet as Alexander Yardely 
• S.Z "Cuddles" Sakall as Felix Bassenak

The verdict:

4/5

To begin with, I absolutely adore this plot! I wouldn't call it a screwball comedy, but it certainly has many of the elements of one, beginning with the fact that it's based on a complete misunderstanding. It's heavy on the comedy but the romance is sweet and sincere, and the balance of both really complimented each other. Anyway, the plot itself swells with promise and it was done so satisfyingly right!

I tend to like Barbara Stanwyck best in comedies: "The Lady Eve," "Ball of Fire," and then there's this. I think she did dramas more often, but I always enjoy her the best in a nice romantic comedy like this. She's really quite perfect as Elizabeth Lane, who is forced to deal with this hilarious predicment she has gotten herself into. She also has good chemistry with the leading male, Dennis Morgan.

Which brings me to him: I honestly had never seen him anything before this movie. I hear he got his big break opposite Ginger in "Kitty Foyle," five years before this, but I haven't seen latter mentioned film (yet). Anyway, I did enjoy his performance in this, though I don't plan to add him to my all time favorites list; and he sings a very lovely song in this. As I mentioned before, he and Barbara do well together. Sydney Greenstreet plays the magazine publisher and he is nicely cast, if a little jollier then usual.

And that brings me to Cuddles Sakall, who is likely my favorite character actor ever. I love him in everything I see him in! He is always adorable and funny in that blubbering way of his, and he is a total scene stealer in this film. He plays a cook trying to master the English language and boy, is he a riot. He confuses several English phrases, for example, in one of my all time favorite screwball lines: "Hunky dunky," instead of "hunky dory." So now of course I say "hunky dunky" all the time.

Overall, I really adore this film. I love it for it's a hilarious holiday film. Holiday movies in general tend to be sappy, mushy, sweet, etc. and though there is certainly nothing wrong with those mentioned adjectives, especially for holiday films, it's nice to get a little change into your holiday lineup once in a while, which makes "Christmas in Connecticut" totally perfect.

This is also a real underrated film, one that perhaps slips under many people's radars, so I strongly encourage you to give it a watch this holiday season. It has a little bit of a slow start, but afterwards you're in for a treat. The main and supporting actors are excellent, the dialogue is witty and crackles with romantic intrigue, and overall it's a very satisfying, feel good comedy - a lovely combination of screwball meets romance meets holiday flick.

The bottom line:

This is a refreshing holiday film because it stands out from the sappier movies that are so common this time of the year. It might not actually be the most "Christmasy" film, but I still strongly suggest you give it a watch. You won't regret it; this isn't one to skip. So the bottom line is watch it!

Some photos:

[via]
Some trivia:

• The Connecticut home in this is the same set used for my favorite screwball comedy, "Bringing up Baby." (Now I totally want to live in this house).
• Elizabeth Lane was loosely based on a Family Circle magazine columnist by the name of Gladys Taber; however, while the film Elizabeth Lane was, to put it bluntly, a fraud (I mean that in the sweetest way), the real life Gladys Taber was the Martha Stewart of the 40's, and lived on an actual farm.

A movie tidbit:

Forget "a tidbit," I couldn't find any on Youtube besides the trailer - I instead, however, found the whole movie, and I'd rather post that. ;) 

***

That's the first Sunday in my little Christmas blogathon. I'm really into the holiday spirit - we put up the tree yesterday, and I'm all aglow. I can't believe it's really Christmastime again! (Yes, I do get like a little girl when it comes to Christmas).

Before I go, a few weeks ago I decided to take the plunge and make a Tumblr. There is a large Classic Hollywood Tumblr community, lovely sites with real beautiful photos and GIFs - and even though I'm really more of a words person than a photo person, I thought I'd give it a try. Since I'm so devoted to this blog which has the vast topic of all Classic Hollywood, I thought I'd be a lot more narrow with my Tumblr and make it solely about Lucy; a total tribute to her. If you'd like to visit it, go here, and feel free to follow me because I'm pretty sure I have like zilch followers.

I don't think I'm quite cut out for Tumblr, though! I'm terrible at making GIFs and the design of it confuzzles me for sure. Now I have so much more respect for people with such pretty, neat, Tumblrs and nicely edited pics and all of that, because all I can do, really, is reblog. ;) So don't fret over losing me to Tumblr anytime soon.

Isn't she the loveliest? Yes, Lucy, I do it all for you, dear!

[via]

PS: I do believe this is my 100th post!! ;D I wish I could have cooked up a more exciting way to celebrate instead of a little "PS" note, but oh well. I've nearly reached 50 followers, and when I get one more follower I think I have something in mind to help me celebrate both milestones! 

71 Years of Desilu ♥

 Happy anniversary, lovelies! 

♥♥♥

There are so many off screen and on screen Old Hollywood couples that I love. Carole and Clark, Viv and Larry, Bogie and Betty, Kate and Spence (they count!)... all absolutely adorable and big favorites. But there's one couple that always come out on top for me: and yes despite the divorce, it's Lucy and Desi.

And today is their would-be 71st wedding anniversary! Alright, so they were both divorced from each other and had been married to different people at the time of their deaths, but LET'S BE FAIR: a lot of us disregard that. :) And with no disrespect to their second spouses, Edie and Gary, for I'm sure they made them very happy for those marriages did last. But these two will forever remain as Lucy and Ricky in our hearts for sure.

Lucy and Desi had met on the set of "Too Many Girls," a 1940 B movie where they did not even play one another's love interests. But the "B movie queen" and the "Cuban glamour boy" hit it off from the start. Well, actually, their first impressions of one another were not that good. Desi saw Lucy for the first time in a gold lame dress with a slit up to her thigh and a black eye, fresh off the set of "Dance, Girl, Dance." He could not believe this was the girl that was going to play an ingenue. His impression of her changed and fast later that day, when he saw her in what he would later describe: "a pair of tight fitting beige slacks and a yellow sweater, with beautiful blond hair and big blue eyes." He asked her if she would like for him to teach her how to rumba, as it "may come in handy for the picture," but it never did.

They did go out that night, for dinner and dancing. A few days later, co-star Eddie Bracken threw a beach party for those working on the picture. After this encounter they consummated their relationship and broke their engagements to their previous significant others. 

Being together was rocky, however. They were barely ever able to spend time together because Desi was on the road, touring with his rumba band, while Lucy was going about the country publicizing for pictures or either back at the studio making them. They fought a lot on the phone, often accusing each other of having other affairs. The country was fascinated by their romance, but no one thought it would last and both Lucy and Desi had told themselves marriage was out of the question.

Six months after their first meeting, on November 29th, 1940, Desi returned to New York with an idea in his mind and went to Lucy's hotel room. She was busy giving a interview to a reporter entitled, "Why I Will Always be a Bachelor Girl." Desi became impatient, threw the reporter out, and then told Lucy he had everything arranged for her to elope with him that weekend if she wanted to. He'd even waived the three day permit. Lucy said, "I knew things wouldn't be normal when I started going with you," but they decided they loved each other a lot, so there wasn't much else to worry about.

They drove out to Greenwich, Connecticut the next morning. They had to hurry to be back in time for Desi's show at the Roxy. They planned to get married at the Justice of the Peace's office, but the Justice wanted something nicer so he suggested a local country club. The bride wore a black fur jacket because that was all she had, but neither seemed to care much. The wedding ring was a cheap one from Woolworth's - the ring had been the only thing Desi had forgotten about, and all the jewelry stores were closed because it was Saturday, so this was the only thing Desi's business manager was able to dig up. Lucy said, "I love it!" and kept it always, even when it turned skinny and green and Desi bought another, bejeweled ring.

So they were married: with the Woolworth ring, at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, about noon, on Saturday, November 30th. They were not able to make it back to the Roxy in time, and when  the manager angrily asked Desi where he was, he replied in his trademark accent, "I'm in Connecticut." When the response was "CONNECTICUT??!", he said blissfully, "I've been marrying Lucille."

Friends, family, and the country gave it six weeks while personally they each gave their marriage three (weeks). But this union would last twenty years, spawn a television empire, two children, and the great television show of all time. It was a bumpy road. For years they were apart, and for the next decade they were constantly together. She would suffer many miscarriages. There was drinking and philandering. But when it was really boiled down it: you could always tell they loved each other.

Here's a walk down memory lane of their marriage. The quotes, by themselves and people who knew them, were found in various places, mostly from their autobiographies or statements made to a 1992 edition of "People" magazine. ♥

"But the telephone conversations back and forth during that time, the bills for them - Jesus, we could have bought half of AT&T....

The New York hotel operators listened to everything that went on, particularly if they knew you. They all knew Lucy and they all knew me. They were in the habit of listening to our arguments, and were accustomed to the fact that after one of us hung up on the other, five minutes later there would be another call.

One this particular night, in which this did not happen or at least did not happen yet, the operator herself, bless her soul, called Lucy and said, "Why haven't you called him back?"

["A Book" by Desi Arnaz. Desi remembers their furious fights on the phone and the bills they racked up screaming the word "WHAT?" over and  over, because 1940's long distance connection was so bad.]

"After the short ceremony, we ate our wedding breakfast in front of a bright fire in the club's lounge. Outside, a fresh mantle of snow hung on the pine trees. After all the indecision we'd been through, Desi and I were dazed with happiness. We kissed each other and the marriage certificate again and again. It still has my lipstick marks on it.


'I'm going to keep this forever and ever,' I told Desi, clutching it to my black-wool covered bosom. This marriage had to work. I would do anything, sacrifice anything, to make Desi happy."

["Love, Lucy" by Lucille Ball. Lucy's account of the original November 30th]

"Before they did the series, he was a bandleader coming home at three or four in the morning. And by then, she was up and on her way to makeup at RKO. She used to say, "We just can't keep meeting in the Supulveda tunnel."
[Charles Pomerantz, Lucy's publicist]

"Before the show began, they had already been seperated. An actress and a bandleader. He was on the road; she was a working  professional. That's the kind of marriage that has failure written all over it. You're seperated a while, and before you know it, those giblets begin to jump."
[William Asher, Lucy director]

"When they were having the baby and we did the show about the birth of Little Ricky, Desi was terribly emotional about her. He was really crazy about her. You could feel how they felt."


[William Asher, Lucy director]

"Both times I was pregnant, I mooned for hours over a baby photograph of Desi, hoping by some magic I would have a baby who looked just like him. Then we did a show where Lucy tells Ricky she is having a baby. .... [describes scene].... When we did this scene before an audience, Desi was suddenly struck by all the emotion he'd felt when we discovered, after ten childless years of marriage, that we were finally going to have Lucie. His eyes filled up and he couldn't finish the song; I started to cry, too. Vivian startled to sniffle. The director wanted retakes at the end of the show, but the audience stood up and shouted, "No, no!"

["Love, Lucy"by Lucille Ball. Lucy's account of the famous pregnancy episode, in which they broke character with their tears. The scene she describes is the one that we see on TV screens everywhere today.]

"Even after she'd married Gary, whenever she'd see me, she would always take me over to a corner and say, 'Have you heard from Desi lately?' She wanted to know how he was getting along. There was always that great, great love there."

[Jim Bacon, family friend]

"Maybe I'm the romantic, but there was a great, great love there, there really was. Desi was very unhappy about the breakup, and I think she was too. I don't think either one of them ever got over it."

[William Asher, Lucy director]

"I put the phone up to Dad's ear in the bed. And he gave me a look that said, 'Who is it?' And I said, 'It's the redhead.' He just listened, and I heard what she said. She just said the same thing over and and over again. It was muffled, but you could clearly make out it was the same thing over and over again. It was, 'I love you. I love you, Desi, I love you.' You could even hear the intonations of the voice change, how she meant each one, the interpretations. And I just sat there, trying not to show him I was listening, because I had to hold the phone. I couldn't get out of the room; he couldn't hold the phone. And he said, "I love you, too, honey."

["Desilu", account by Lucie Arnaz. This event occurred on November 30th, 1986: Lucy and Desi's would-be forty sixth wedding anniversary and two days before Desi died.]

***

Take a minute to get a little "I Love Lucy" in your day today! 

Ciao! :)

PS: Aren't you all thrilled Robert Osborne is coming back to TCM? I can hardly wait to hear, "I'm Robert Osborne," again!

In Memory of Natalie Wood

 "At night, when the sky is full of stars and the sea is still, you get the wonderful sensation that you are floating in space."

- Natalie Wood

WELL, I THINK you all may have guessed that today I would be writing about Natalie. :) Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of her drowning off Santa Catalina Island. About two weeks ago her case was reopened by the L.A Police Department, sparking a lot of new interest in Natalie and her drowning. 

Natalie's biggest fear in life with was water, especially dark water. A few weeks before her death she was quoted as saying, "I've been terrified of water, and yet it seems I'm forced to go in it in every movie I make." (She's right, too - Splendor in the Grass, Sex and the Single Girl, The Great Race...just to name a few, and some of which involved her trying to drown herself or saving someone else who was drowning). 

Her fear of water stemmed from her mother. Her mother, who went by various names like "Mud" or "Maria", was a very fabricated woman who believed that she was descended from royalty (the Romanovs - a picture of them hung over Natalie's crib in their 1930s San Francisco apartment), believed wholeheartedly in gypsy folklore and black magic, and was obsessed with making Natalie into a star (so much so, she totally abandoned Natalie's other two sisters, Olga and Lana). Thanks to her mother's insane habits, Natalie suffered a lot of tragedy in her life and her childhood was really wretched away from her. But likely the biggest mistake Mud ever made was telling Natalie, from the time she was a baby, that she was going to have a death by drowning. 

This was a fear Mud possessed, and she easily passed it onto a young Natalie, who didn't even want her hair to be washed in the sink for fear of having her head submerged in the water. This fear was intensified during the making of "The Green Promise," a 1949 movie in which there was a scene where an eleven year old Natalie is supposed to cross a creaky bridge in a awful thunderstorm. The bridge was eventually supposed to collapse and send Natalie into the water, but she was supposed to be quickly fished out afterwards. During the actual filming, the bridge collapsed prematurely and she was sent into the dark water with wind blowing from the machine in every direction. She held onto the edge of bridge while the cameras kept rolling, as the director requested them to be (he was getting "good footage" for the scene). Natalie nearly drowned, and she broke her left wrist due to the accident. Her mother was afraid of doctors and being blacklisted by the studio, so she never took it to get set in a cast and it grew back deformed. Natalie, pressured to be perfect by her mother, was disgusted by this deformation and always covered her wrist with a thick bracelet while in public. She called it "The Badge."

Her fear for water never faded, though. Apparently on the set of "The Star", in which she played Bette Davis's daughter - this was about a year so later - they called for an impromptu scene for Natalie to jump in water and swim a selection. She apparently started crying and howling so loud, "you could hear her all the way in Catalina," and Bette intervened by saying if they had "wanted a swimmer, they should've gotten Johnny Weissmuller!"

She would marry Robert Wagner twice. The second time around, he introduced her to boating and she discovered she could find inside of her a kind of affection for the water. However, she liked it best when she was inside a yacht and away from the actual water. She and RJ even married the second time on a boat. It wasn't long before they bought one of their own, calling it the "Splendour", after the 1961 movie she'd made with Warren Beatty, Splendor in the Grass.

Natalie, RJ, and her two daughters, Natasha and Courtney, spent a lot of time on the Splendor. I'm currently reading the book "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour" a book focusing on her drowning written by Marti Rulli with the help of Dennis Davern, the skipper on the Splendour who is the cause for the recent reopening of her case. The book does a good job of depicting regular days on the Splendour: with Natalie sitting on her windowseat, nicknamed "Natalie's perch," sifting through scripts she had been offered, sketching pictures of her daughters, and dancing to Bobby Darrin while RJ and her daughters splashed around in the water she was sure to avoid. 

A number of celebrities would visit this boat and spend weekends there. The boat was Natalie and RJ's pride and joy, and they liked taking their friends on trips in it.

In the latter part of 1981, Natalie was working on what she hoped would be her "comeback film", a sci-fi flick costarring Christopher Walken entitled, "Brainstorm." The shooting was being done in North Carolina and she was nearly done when Thanksgiving rolled around. She went back to California to spend Thanksgiving with her family - Thanksgiving dinner was spent at sister Lana's house - and so did Chris Walken. RJ, Natalie, and Walken made plans to spend the weekend following Thanksgiving on the 

Splendour, taking a trip to Natalie's favorite vacation spot: Catalina Island.

The weekend was ill fated from the start. Natalie's eleven year old daughter, Natasha, begged her mother not to go on the boating trip for she was afraid something would happen to her - an eerie foretelling that would unfortunately come true. Natalie loved her daughters very much and almost submitted to staying, but the others told her that her daughters needed to learn they couldn't always get what they wanted, etc., and not to spoil them. So they went: Natalie, RJ, Christoper Walken, and the skipper, Dennis Davern, for a weekend on the Splendour.

The weekend was a stormy one from the start. Natalie and RJ began getting into arguments over moving the boat to a particular location, whereas beef began to accumulate between RJ and Christoper over Natalie's career. Walken was encouraging Natalie to devote more time to her career. Rumor has it RJ was also spited because he was suspicious of Natalie and Walken having an affair, but there is no evidence to prove that this is true. Natalie and RJ argued the night of Friday, the 27th. That night Natalie spent at a hotel. But by the next morning Natalie was in a better mood, back on the boat, and cooking Spanish eggs for the group.

Saturday, the 28th wasn't much better than the day before. That night the group went out for dinner at Doug's Harbor Reef, a beachy cafe in Avalon, city on the mainland. This was where Natalie had her last meal and where the trouble would begin. The three of them got a table with Dennis Davern back at the boat. During the course of the evening, Natalie would happily sign autographs and take pictures with fans. One witness even walked in the women's bathroom and found Natalie braiding and combing the hair of a young girl. 

During this night, the three also drank excessively and were pretty much drunk by the time they returned to the boat, stumbling across the dock. Once they settled back inside, Walken and RJ picked up a fight. The argument's exact source is not known but it was likely over Natalie's career or so. RJ - and he would admit to this - took a liquor bottle and smashed it. Natalie got up and retired to her stateroom. Walken and RJ settled a truce and RJ retreated to the stateroom he shared with Natalie. Davern now strongly insists that he and Natalie fought in that stateroom, nearly violent fighting, and that is what Davern attributes to Natalie's death.

The rest of the night is fuzzy, and here is where the different stories seem to come into play. RJ remembers going into Natalie's room later and not finding her. In his autobiography, he claims that he suspected she took the dinghy out "which she often did at night", but when she had still not "returned" an hour later he became nervous because he knew Natalie was "scared of water." He totally contradicts himself within a few sentences. It's obvious to many however that Natalie, someone so afraid of water, would not have taken a little boat out into dark water in the middle of the dark night.

The most common explanation was that the dinghy was noisily hitting the side of the boat as it often did, and Natalie shuffled out to try and tie it up. Apparently when she did, she fell out of the boat, hitting her head and becoming unconscious. But there are so many things to contradict this story, too. She couldn't have been completely unconscious because the Wayne family, on a nearby boat, swore that they heard the shouts of, "Help me, I'm drowning, I'm drowning!". They tried to respond to the shouts but were unsuccessful in getting a response.

RJ would wait a full four hours before alerting the Coast Guard, and the official search for his wife did not begin until about six or so the morning of November 29th, nearly a full seven hours after she'd first disappeared. Her body was found in the "White Cove" of Catalina. Her eyes were open, she was floating upright, held afloat by a red down jacket that she wore. Underneath she wore a nightgown and socks. She wore four rings, the tag necklace she always wore, and a bracelet: but not "The Badge", the one that she always wore when going into public, which meant she had not intended to be going into public. There were some twenty bruises on her body. The dinghy was found before her, switched off and silent with scratch marks on the sides of the tiny boat. 

The case of her death was closed ten days later after brief questing with the three other parties on the boat that night. Now it is reopened, due to Dennis Davern, who claims he has the real truth of what happened to Natalie that night, and insists he lied to investigators thirty years ago.

Honestly, I don't think anyone really knows what happened that night but Natalie. The whole event and the way it unfolded is eerie and so suspicious: especially considering this was Natalie's very worst fear, what her mother had predicted she would die from. Each story contradicts each other. In the book I am currently reading, the author claims Dennis Davern was very close to the Wagners and did minuscule tasks for them all the time: so he certainly wouldn't have minded tying up the dinghy if had been banging against the boat that night. Also, the dinghy would have been quite loud and everyone on the boat would have heard it motoring up, so how could RJ's first reaction be that his hydrophobic wife had taken out the little boat to the mainland?

The only thing I can say to it all, is that I hope with the reopening of her case justice will be served for her and her story.

I think if Natalie hadn't drowned that night, she would still be with us. I think, perhaps, that she would have made a comeback movie, whether it was "Brainstorm" or another film. I think that maybe she would eventually have won the Oscar, or at least an honorary one. It's a big injustice I think that she never did, for she was nominated three times! Maybe she would have even written an autobiography, for she was starting to when she died. She had only just finished the first chapter.

Her life was left uncompleted, taken by her greatest fear, and I think that's honestly one of the very worst things that can happen to a person. (Well, obviously, you'd think death would be one of the worst things!). 

Why do I love Natalie, and what I do I remember most about her? On this thirtieth anniversary of her death, I remember:

05. What a wonderful actress she was, and the awesome movies she made and the characters she portrayed.

04. The energy she put into the art she preformed. She once said, "If I didn't believe in what I'm doing, I'd rather go to work in a dime store."

03. Her gorgeousness.

02. Her wonderful sense of humor.

01. Her love for her family and her daughters.

00. Her kind personality and her passion for life.

Now, as if I haven't already written enough and congratulations if you're still here with me, some photos. Natalie must've been one of the most photogenic people EVER. I have not seen a single bad photo of her, and there are so many wonderfully awesome photos of her too. It's hard to just pick a few, ever!

"You know what I want? I want yesterday..."

Just a small selection of the favorite Natalie pictures I have saved on my computer. Seriously, she had the best photos EVER.

If you'd like to check it out, here is the video I made for her on this particular day.

***

That's all for today. I'll probably be back tomorrow, because it's Lucy and Desi's wedding anniversary. :P

Ciao!

Sunday Movie Review: "Made for Each Other" (1939)

Hello lovelies,

Firstly, a big thank you to Clara at Via Margutta 51 for publicizing my "Classic Hollywood Thanksgiving [In Emails]" as recommend reading on her blog's Facebook page! (As well as my friend Natalie who shared the link to the post on her blog). And also a big thank you to everyone who left such sweet comments complimenting my post. I'm glad everyone liked it. :)


Now, onto the Sunday Movie Review. This Sunday I present to you "Made for Each Other", released in Hollywood's Golden Year:  1939.

***

The poster: I really like it. I think it's very neatly done. Quiet honest by screaming "heartbreak"!

The plot:

Charming singles Jane (Carole Lombard) and John (James Stewart) enthusiastically fall in love, get hitched and have a baby. But soon enough, harsh realities -- including meddling in-laws, money problems and a family illness -- intrude on the couple's dream of living happily ever after. While the floundering lovebirds may be meant for each other, they'll have to work together to weather life's ups and downs. [from Netflix]

The starring players:

• Carole Lombard as Jane Mason
• Jimmy Stewart as John Mason
• Charles Coburn as Judge Joseph Doolittle

The verdict: 

3.5/5

This film stars two of my favorite people, Jimmy Stewart and Carole Lombard. That alone should be a reason to watch this film - and honestly, when I rented this out from Netflix, I didn't know exactly what it was about, only that I was looking forward to seeing Jimmy and Carole together. You have those two, and then you throw in the fabulous Charles Coburn, not to mention this is produced by David O. Selznick - in the same year he'd be releasing "Gone With the Wind." (I'm guessing this was one of his many side projects during the production of The Epic Film).

I was looking through the reviews for this movie on Netflix and I was appalled by the bad reviews it was getting: 2 stars, even 1 star! It certainly wasn't as bad as all that. I think the biggest flaw in this film, and what prevented it from me being able to give it a full four stars, was the strange story structure and awkward plot. This film really brings definition to the "dramedy". I think for the first hour of the movie it did well with this and stayed consistent. The last half an hour, which consists of a family tragedy, a faulty airplane, and a snowstorm threw everything off. The last half hour was so melodramatic you didn't really know how to react because the earlier part of the film had been touching on comedic at points.

This made the film overall messy, and it kind of felt like too many things were trying to be crammed into one film. But onto the acting: Jimmy Stewart is in the niche of the roles he was typecast for - the idealistic, all American boy. These were the roles he was made for, the roles we love him best in, and so obviously he does well. Then there is Carole as his sympathetic wife and she is also lovely. This is probably the first drama I have seen the Queen of Screwball in, and though I do like her better in comedies, that isn't to say I didn't like her in this because I really did. She is quite adorable in the way she puts up with her annoying mother-in-law ("I won't say anything, I won't say anything, I won't say anything!" she mutters through gritted teeth) and playing the doting mother of their baby boy. 

As for the pairing of the two, I thought their chemistry was pretty good though they did not get many scenes to show it off. So it may be better put by saying, "Their chemistry had potential." Teensy tiny Carole (5'2) was about a head shorter than Jimmy Stewart which I found pretty funny. :) Then there was Charles Coburn as the Judge and I also thought he was quite good. He was a character you didn't like at first but by the end you'll be able to warm up to him.

The bottom line:

This movie's fault does not fall in the acting but in the plot. Had the ending not been so dragged out with such melodrama I think I would have been able to give this movie four stars. I wouldn't discourage you to watch it. if you are a big fan of Jimmy and Carole, or just want to see the two paired together, then go ahead and watch it; it's only an hour and a half. Disappointing towards the end but otherwise a nice sentimental film about a couple "made for each other" trying to scrimp and pinch to make things work for them.

Some photos:

Some trivia:

• A special effects technician was killed when he fell from a 40 foot catwalk while trying to release balloons for the New Year's Eve party scene. I must say, he died in vain...
• Both Carole and Jimmy would reprise these roles for the lovely Lux Radio Theatre, just not at the same time. Carole would in February of 1940 and Jimmy in December of 1945.
• The melodramatic tragedy at the end of the movie was based on David O. Selznick's real life experiences with his critically ill brother. But was this really the right movie to add that into?

A movie tidbit:

You can watch the whole movie here

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That's it for this week's SMR. I'm back to school tomorrow after four days of vacation for Thanksgiving :( Not to mention I have some pretty major standardized tests to take on Wednesday (which also happens to be Lucy and Desi's would be 71st wedding anniversary... (; ) But this week also marks the beginning of December and Christmastime. I can hardly wait! :D

A Classic Hollywood Thanksgiving [In Emails]

Hello everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for so many things: my family, my friends, the roof over my head, getting the chance to write all I want, all the people who have taken the time to read this blog... (that means YOU!)

One thing I'm also thankful for is Classic Hollywood. I mean it, too. What on Earth would I do without classic movies???

My first idea was to do a Thanksgiving post about Classic Hollywood having a Thanksgiving dinner together. Who would come, who would say what, etc., etc. But the more I thought about it it seemed awful hard so I decided to take a new approach. Basically, a bunch of movie stars met up at someone's house (not exactly sure, but it's pretty obvious Rita Hayworth did a lot of cooking and Bogie and Lauren Bacall helped out.. you'll see), and now they're reflecting back on it through emails. I guess I was kind of inspired by the "Tweets of Old Hollywood" thing that was published in the recent Vanity Fair (I think I left the link a few posts back).

This is what I put together. I honestly don't know what you'll make of it, but it was fun to write! :D

Also, they might be hard to read in the size presented to you here. So you can hover over the picture with your mouse, right click, and hit "open in new tab", and it should be big enough for you to read! I couldn't make them any bigger without it going into the sidebar. :)

Walter Pidgeon couldn't make it to the gathering (he had a bad cold), so Greer has sent him an email letting him know how things went.

Next, Lucy sent Ginger Rogers an email with a few photos she and Desi had taken at the event. (Ginger also attended, but her camera ran out of film, you see). By "LeeLee", she means Ginger's mother. 

Ingrid really enjoyed the mashed potatoes Cary brought to the gathering (it was kind of a potluck), so she traded recipes with him for her Swedish meatballs. Here he sends her the recipe.

Joan and Bette got into a spat, of course. Barbara Stanwyck, Joan's best friend, helped break it up and here Joan thanks her for it.

Here Bette relays her side of the story, with a little gossip on the side, to best friend Olivia de Havilland.

And lastly, Spencer shoots Kate an email asking her how Thanksgiving went. He was busy shooting a film and couldn't come, but they can't be seen together in public anyway.

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I don't know. It was fun to write! Have a happy Thanksgiving! :)