STINGAREE

STINGAREE (1934). Director: William Wellman. "

You'll be just as safe here -- as you want to be." 

Bizarre but likable comedy-drama-musical-what-the hell? with Irene Dunne as Hilda Bouverie, who desperately wants a career as a singer, and Richard Dix as "Stingaree," a notorious 1874 Australian bandit who wants to make it happen for her -- even if at gunpoint. Unintentional hilarity ensues when Dunne begins singing Lucia di Lammermoor (off-screen) at all the great opera houses -- Dunne has a lovely, perhaps even an operetta-type voice, but Renata Tebaldi she ain't! However, she's as charming as ever in this film. What can one say about Richard Dix except that he's devoid of looks and insouciance and is more at home in those Whistler movies. The movie needed a Tyrone Power type and that Dix is not, although he's at least professional. As others have noted, nobody wants to see the delightful Mary Boland as a mean-spirited bitch, which she is in this film. When she sings (a dubbed voice that is not operatic-great but hardly terrible) another character says: "Being shot right now would be a blessed relief!" Jealous of Hilda's youth and talent, Boland is the type of singer who blames the accompanist for her own inadequacies. There are many amusing moments in the film, an interesting sequence when Hilda hears off-stage gunshots (has her beloved been shot?) at a concert, and the songs, especially "Tonight is Mine," are lovely. So fast-paced that it doesn't give you much time to ponder the absurdity of it all. Una O'Connor is fun as ever as a maid-companion. 

Verdict: Stupid but cute. ***.

THIRTEEN WOMEN

THIRTEEN WOMEN (1932). Director: George Archainbaud. 

The racist girls at a fancy finishing school, St. Alban's, weren't very nice to the Eurasian gal Ursula Georgi (Myrna Loy, pictured), so years later she's determined that every one of them who snubbed her will come to an exceedingly bad end. Using a fake swami (C. Henry Gordon) she sends letters of doom to her victims and then watches as her sinister predictions come true. Now she's after Laura Stanhope (Irene Dunne), planning to blow up Laura's adorable little boy, Bobby (Wally Albright) with a bomb in a ball. Ricardo Cortez is the police investigator on the case, and Edward Pawley is the chauffeur who's become Ursula's love slave. Peg Entwhistle, who threw herself off the Hollywood sign, is one of the young ladies. There's an interesting climax on a train, but this plot with its subway shoves and falls off of trains needs the Hitchcock finesse to do it justice. Archainbaud pretty much just covers the action although there are some exciting scenes. Loy, Dunne and Kay Johnson are the cast stand-outs. 

Verdict: Minor but reasonably absorbing. **1/2.

FATAL CHARM: THE LIFE OF REX HARRISON

FATAL CHARM: THE LIFE OF REX HARRISON. Alexander Walker. St. Martin's; 1992.

This superb biography takes a thorough, exhaustive look at the life and career of Rex Harrison, highlighting his enormous talent and good points while unsparingly detailing his less admirable traits, which were many. Walker covers Harrison's early British films and stage work, his coming to America to appear in Anna and the King of Siam with Irene Dunne, his triumph in both the Broadway and movie versions of My Fair Lady, and his many marriages to the likes of Collette Thomas, Elizabeth Rees, Lilli Palmer, and Rachel Roberts, among others. Roberts was a particular handful, an alcoholic whose behavior in public was often disgusting, and who even after her divorce from Harrison and his subsequent remarriage never stopped trying to get him back. Then there are the numerous affairs, the most publicized of which were with Carole Landis (who committed suicide over him) and Kay Kendall [Les Girls], whom Harrison married, divorcing Palmer, after learning Kendall had only a couple of years to live. Walker's biography maintains a balance between Harrison's career and personal life, analyzing his performances, and is bolstered by many interviews and comments from friends and co-workers.

Verdict: A damned good show! ****.

TOGETHER AGAIN

Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne

TOGETHER AGAIN (1944). Director: Charles Vidor.

"You're a big shot in the office, and a non-entity at home!"

After making Love Affair in 1939, Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer were "together again" five years later in this slightly screwball comedy. Anne Crandell (Dunne) has been mayor of a small town in Vermont ever since the death of her husband and lives with her father-in-law, Jonathan (Charles Coburn) and neurotic stepdaughter Diana (Mona Freeman of Angel Face). Jonathan wants Anne to have more of a life, to forget his son [oddly] and her attachment to him and to the town they were happy in. When her late husband's statue is beheaded by a bolt of lightning, Jonathan sees this as a sign, but Anne only travels to Manhattan to meet with a prominent sculptor named George Corday (Boyer). After misadventures, including being mistaken for a stripper in a nightclub raid, Anne returns home convinced that George is not the right man for the job. But George follows Anne home and is determined to win her, if only he can get her to unbend ... Together Again basically gets by on the charm and abilities of its leads. A luminescent Dunne offers one of her best comic portrayals and is in absolutely top form throughout, Boyer is sauve and smooth as ever, and Coburn a delight as usual. Unfortunately, the material is second-rate, although there are a few amusing moments. Carl "Alfafa" Switzer has a funny cameo as an elevator boy, and Jerome Courtland [Sunny Side of the Street] scores as a young man who is dating the difficult Diana and often wishes that he weren't. Vidor also directed Rhapsody and many others.

Verdict: Great leads who need stronger material. **1/2.

THEODORA GOES WILD

Irene Dunne

THEODORA GOES WILD (1936). Director: Richard Boleslawski.

Seemingly the whole town of Lynnfield, Connecticut is up in arms because a risque novel by a "Caroline Adams" is being gleefully serialized in the town paper by editor Jed Waterbury (Thomas Mitchell). The most outraged townsfolk are members of the Lynnfield ladies literary circle, who would be astonished to learn that one of their number, Theodora Lynn (Irene Dunne) is actually the author of the scandalous book! On a trip to New York to see her publisher, Arthur Stevenson (Thurston Hall), Theodora encounters a man named Michael (Melvyn Douglas), who follows her back to Lynnfield and threatens to expose her secret. Only Michael has secrets of his own ... Theodora Goes Wild still makes a timely statement today about small-town hypocrisy, how people are secretly titillated by what they profess to abhor, and the need to shed off constricting small-mindedness and be true to one's instincts and nature. Even better is that it has some very good performances and a number of laugh-out-loud funny sequences. Unfortunately, the middle section, with Michael coming to Lynnfield where he becomes a gardener for Theodora and her aunts and drives them crazy with his constant whistling (the audience as well!), drags a lot and is rather tiresome, although the movie picks up in the final quarter. Dunne and Douglas are fine, with great support from Mitchell and Hall, Nana Bryant (Possessed) as Hall's jealous wife, and Elisabeth Risdon (The Egg and I) and Margaret McWade as Theodora's prudish but loving aunts. Spring Byington (Walk Softly Stranger) has a great scene when she reads an "offensive" passage from Adams' book with such gusto that you can tell she's privately thrilled with it. Robert Greig also makes an impression as Theo's free-spirited Uncle John, who wants her out from under the influence of his spinster sisters. Jake the dog is rather wonderful, too. This comes so, so close to being a classic but misses by that much.

Verdict: Still good for a laugh or two and a lively message. ***.

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1935)

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1935). Director: John M. Stahl.

"Through one, all may be reached."

Because a wealthy playboy, Bob Merrick (Robert Taylor), goes sailing while drunk, special equipment is used to save his life, meaning it isn't available elsewhere when a beloved doctor has a stroke while swimming. The doctor dies and the useless playboy lives, infuriating the doctor's widow, Helen (Irene Dunne). But these two individuals are nevertheless drawn to each other, but tragedy strikes when Helen is the victim of a hit and run and loses her sight. This gives Bob a new purpose in life, as does the dead doctor's philosophy of helping people while asking for nothing in return, creating a spiritual connection. This is the first film adaptation of Lloyd C. Douglas' novel; a remake was done in 1954. The trouble with the movie isn't its religiosity, which never becomes too overpowering, but the fact that it's contrived from beginning to end. Fine performances from the leads are some compensation, but Magnificent Obsession is pretty predictable and tedious. Sara Haden, Ralph Morgan, and Betty Furness are good in supporting roles, but dippy Charles Butterworth is merely an irritation.

Verdict: Not exactly a classic but the stars are excellent. **.

BACK STREET (1932)

Irene Dunne and John Boles

BACK STREET (1932).Director: John M. Stahl.

The first film version of Fannie Hurst's famous novel of a "back street" affair is a bit more faithful to the book, but not quite as successful as the 1941 version with Margaret Sullavan and Charles Boyer, although the acting in this version is also top-notch. In Cincinnati, Ray Schmidt (Irene Dunne) meets Walter Saxel (John Boles), who turns out to have a fiancee. Walter and Ray fall in love, and the former wants the latter to meet his mother and see how the old lady reacts to her. On her way for the fateful rendezvous, Ray gets sidetracked when her stepsister Freda (June Clyde) importunes her to come with her to her boyfriend, who knocked her up, and demand that he do the right thing. By the time Ray arrives at the bandstand to meet Mrs. Saxel, it's too late. However, Walter and Ray meet up in New York years later and begin a life-long affair. The rest of the movie has virtually the same script as the 1942 version with the exception that Ray/Dunne has a neighbor who is also a lonely kept woman. [Another difference is that in this version Ray's father is still alive.] Irene Dunne is outstanding as Ray, and it could be argued has a stronger, more emotional reaction than Sullavan [who perhaps underplays a bit too much] as she learns of the ultimate fate of her beloved. Bole is perhaps more romantic and more tender than Boyer was in certain sequences. In any case, while this version is not as good as the Back Street of 1941, it is still a creditable and entertaining picture. Zazu Pitts has a small role as the usual dithery landlady.

Verdict: Dunne and Boles make a nice duo. ***.

NO OTHER WOMAN

NO OTHER WOMAN (1933). Director: J. Walter Ruben.

Anna (Irene Dunne) is in love with steel worker Jim (Charles Bickford), but she despises their environment and wants to have a life without soot and noise and comparative poverty. Jim has no such ambitions, but Anna marries him anyway. When a friend named Joe (Eric Linden) develops a new dye formula, Anna importunes Jim to go in with him, although at first he stubbornly resists. But eventually he succumbs and before you know it he and Anna are living on easy street -- and then the real troubles start, especially in the form of slinky vamp Margot (Gwili Andre). This rags-to-riches soap opera would be forgettable were it not for the performances and an exciting court room scene where Anna pulls out all the stops to get her man back. [One may wonder why she would want him, as he proves to be a first-class stinker.] J. Carrol Naish has a small role as Jim's lawyer, Bonelli, another Italian role for the Irish actor.

Verdict: There have been worse. **1/2.

ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM

ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM (1946). Director: John Cromwell.

This features wonderful performances by Irene Dunne as Anna; Rex Harrison as the King (once you get used to him); Gale Sondergaard as the first wife; Lee J. Cobb as the King's second-in-command; and Linda Darnell as the first concubine, Lady Tuptim, who is a bit of a bitch. She has her own slave, whom she (at first) refuses to set free. Tuptim and her (apparently “sin”-free) “lover” are burned at the stake in a more graphic treatment than in “The King and I.” One wonders: How can Anna teach the wives English if she can't speak Siamese? The very moving conclusion shows the son of the dead king telling the slaves to stand upright instead of kneeling. In this original version, the king dies many years after the main storyline ends and is much older than in the musical. An odd note is that Anna's young son is killed riding a horse, which apparently did not occur in the book nor in real life! Dunne's reaction to this tragedy is perhaps not quite strong enough. Bernard Herrmann's score has some lovely touches.

Verdict: Certainly worth a look. ***.