ANNA LEE MEMOIR

ANNA LEE: MEMOIR OF A CAREER ON GENERAL HOSPITAL AND ON FILM, Anna Lee with Barbara Roisman Cooper. McFarland; 2007.

Although in her later years Anna Lee was best known for her work as the matriarch on the soap opera General Hospital, she had a long career in movies and on television. After the soap, many people recall her as the neighbor of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? But she also appeared in dozens of films, being the leading lady in many early productions, including Bitter Sweet, The Man Who Changed His Mind with Boris Karloff, King Solomon's Mines and others. As a supporting actress Lee had notable turns in several John Ford films (she was one of his favorites), including How Green Was My Valley and The Last Hurrah, as well as roles in such films as Summer Storm (with George Sanders, whom she disliked), the spy flick In Like Flint, and Sam Fuller's The Crimson Kimono. 

Lee writes in a flavorful style of her childhood in England, her early days in British pictures, her three marriages (to director Robert Stevenson; a sexy American captain she met during WW 2 while entertaining the troops; and the author Robert Nathan, when they were both in their dotage), and can be forgiven for frequent name-dropping as she met and/or knew such folk as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, screenwriter Charles Bennett, the ultra-ambitious Merle Oberon, the hateful Fritz Lang, General George S. Patton, and Alfred Hitchcock, who gave her away at her second wedding! In her final years, Lee was confined to a wheelchair but still managed to make it to each taping of General Hospital that required her appearance. She died in 2004.

Verdict: Despite Lee not being a major star, hers is a very interesting story. ***. 

THE LAST HURRAH

Spencer Tracy

THE LAST HURRAH (1958). Director: John Ford.

Mayor Frank Skeffington (Spencer Tracy) runs for one last term, and is up against a younger family man (Charles B. Fitzsimons) who seems the pawn of more experienced politicians. Frank's son, Junior (Arthur Walsh), is a fifties-type jazz baby who has little interest in politics or much else. Frank is closer to his nephew, Adam (Jeffrey Hunter), whose boss at a newspaper, Amos Force (John Carradine), and father-in-law Roger Sugure (Willis Bouchey), both detest Frank. Frank is an old-fashioned Irish-American politician who has survived decades due to his old cronies who love him, but it's a new world out there and Frank may get a surprise on election night ... The Last Hurrah could be picked apart on certain levels -- the characterization is quite superficial at times --  but it works because of its acting and Ford's smooth, professional direction. Tracy is excellent, and he gets fine support from Hunter, Walsh, Carradine, and especially Basil Rathbone in a scene-stealing turn as a banker who comes afoul of Frank and vice versa. (The whole sequence with Rathbone's lisping, clearly mentally-deficient son, who is cruelly used to blackmail Rathbone, is in questionable taste, to say the least.) Other cast stand-outs include Ricardo Cortez as Sam, the campaign manager; Donald Crisp as the cardinal; Basil Ruysdael as Bishop Gardner; and Jane Darwell as Delia Boylan, whose chief occupation seems to be to go to funerals and cackle. Edward Brophy [Romance on the Run] is also notable as "Ditto," Frank's old pal, a rather sad figure (whom we learn little about) who's given the last appearance in the picture. Anna Lee [Summer Storm] scores as Gert, a widow, in one of the film's most interesting sequences. Gert keeps repeating "he was a good man, Frank, a good man," when it's clear that her husband didn't even bother to see how she would get along after his death and left no insurance. Bob Sweeney is fine as a funeral director, as are Ken Curtis [Don Daredevil Rides Again] as Monsignor Killian, Dianne Foster as Adam's conflicted wife, and Frank Albertson as the opponent's manager, Jack Mangan. O. Z. Whitehead is quite good in the thankless role of Rathbone's son, Norman Jr. Harry Lauter, Edmund Lowe, Tom Neal; William Hudson all have smaller, generally non-speaking roles. Spencer Tracy was only 58 when  he did this picture, but looks years older, and his character was actually 72 in Edward O'Connor's source novel. Sure, make up could have been used to make Tracy look older, but I think years of heavy drinking had taken their toll.

Verdict: An excellent lead performance and a smooth production make this worthwhile. ***.

WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME

Willie (Dan Dailey) is questioned by French resistance

WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME (1950). Director: John Ford.

After Pearl Harbor, small-town boy and bandleader Bill Kluggs (Dan Dailey) is anxious to enlist. Although his early training doesn't go so well, he eventually develops "the highest rating of any instructor," which means the Army has more use for him in camp than overseas. Unfortunately, said camp is located right in Bill's home town, where he stays -- and stays -- while other men ship out and his neighbors get more and more resentful. Eventually he goes on a mission and winds up behind enemy lines and working with the French resistance, and is sent back to England with important information -- unfortunately he can't talk about the mission. One annoying thing about this otherwise good and funny movie is that no one -- not even Bill's parents -- acknowledge that he's performing an important service as an instructor (an assignment that is not without its dangers). Dailey is excellent, and he has fine support from William Demarest [Pardon My Past] and Evelyn Varden [The Bad Seed] as his parents; Colleen Townsend as his girl, Marge; Jimmy Lydon [Henry Aldrich Haunts a House] as her brother; and Corinne Calvet as a beautiful lady with the French resistance.

Verdict: Well-done and keeps you chuckling, with a fine lead performance. ***.

ON THE GOOD SHIP HOLLYWOOD: JOHN AGAR

ON THE GOOD SHIP HOLLYWOOD. John Agar, as told to L. C. Van Savage. BearManor Media; 2007.

There are actors who never quite attain the top rank of Hollywood stars yet become familiar due to the many roles they play over the years or the fact that they appear in certain beloved, or at least, popular movies or cult films. The late John Agar certainly fits into that category, because of the westerns he appeared in (for some movie fans) or the science fiction/monster movies he starred in (for others). To B movie lovers Agar is probably best-known for Tarantula, The Revenge of the Creature, and the zesty Brain from Planet Arous, in which he delivered a lively performance, among others. Agar also had featured roles in "A" productions directed by the likes of John Ford and Raoul Walsh (Along the Great Divide). Agar basically fell into acting (his family had been in the meat-packing business) because of people he met when he was married to Shirley Temple. (He was 22 when he started dating her at 15!) Agar was apparently never able to have any kind of relationship with the daughter that resulted from this union, which ended in divorce, but he did adopt two sons with his second wife, Loretta. (His great-aunt Edna was the lead character in Greer Garson's Blossoms in the Dust, and the foundation she began helped with these adoptions.) Agar developed a serious drinking problem and his occasional falls off the wagon got him fired from jobs both in and out of show business. Agar made out better than most supporting players/"B" movie stars in that he did develop a fan following that existed up until his old age instead of being forgotten. This is hardly an in-depth autobiography, but it does touch all the major bases and makes a good read.

Verdict: From planet Earth, not Arous. ***.

DONOVAN'S REEF

John Wayne and Elizabeth Allen

DONOVAN'S REEF (1963). Director: John Ford.

"What young girl of my age doesn't contemplate matrimony?" -- Miss Lafleur [Dorothy Lamour at 49]

On an island in French Polynesia lives bar owner Donovan (John Wayne) and his fighting buddy Gilhooey (Lee Marvin), who are always punching each other out over a long-ago offense neither can remember, and the local doctor Dedham (Jack Warden). While Dedham is off-island his daughter Amelia (Elizabeth Allen) from Boston society, who has never met her father, shows up on the island. [She has been told that Daddy's inheritance will go to her if she can prove moral lapses on his part, but this sub-plot is dropped pretty early, with no mention of it made again.] Donovan is afraid Amelia will have a bad reaction if she discovers that she has three "half-caste" siblings so he pretends the children are his own -- a bad idea. Meanwhile the island's governor (Cesar Romero) learns how much money Miss Dedham has and tries to interfere with her budding romance with Donovan. [When 56-year-old Wayne smooches with 34-year-old Allen, it's like she's kissing her father!] This is a perfectly amiable, minor-league film with more than adequate performances that holds the attention while never quite being side-splitting or terribly dramatic. But while it's sort of a slice-of-life movie in some ways, its presentation of Polynesian ways is rather cliched, and it's nowhere in the league of Ford's How Green Was My Valley. For some reason, Ford doesn't use nearly enough close ups, possibly to minimize the age difference between the romantic leads. Dorothy Lamour isn't given much to do as a saloon entertainer who hopes to marry Gilhooey. Some amusing scenes and beautiful scenery, and Dedham's children are adorable. Allen was basically a theater actress who starred on Broadway in the Richard Rodgers-Stephen Sondheim collaboration Do I Hear a Waltz?

Verdict: This shouldn't work at all but somehow it entertains in spite of itself. ***.

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

The real stars: Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941). Director: John Ford.

A look at the lives of several residents of a Welsh mining town, especially focusing on Mr. and Mrs. Morgan (Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood), and their youngest son Huw (Roddy McDowall)  and daughter Angharad (Maureen O'Hara). There are marriages, births and deaths, and a split between Morgan and his older sons, and indeed the other miners, when he doesn't support a strike. In the meantime Angharad marries the mine owner's son while pining for minister Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), causing some tongues to wag. Although Pidgeon and O'Hara are the top-billed "stars" [Pidgeon just sort of says lines while O'Hara is fine], the real stars of the movie are Crisp and Allgood, both of whom are superb; Allgood probably never had as good or large a part as this. Young McDowall is also excellent. The film is beautifully photographed by Arthur C. Miller, and has a fine score by Alfred Newman. There are some striking and touching tableaus throughout the movie. John Loder and Patric Knowles are two of the older sons. Barry Fitzgerald and his brother Arthur Shields [who overacts in this] have smaller roles.Ethel Griffies is a gossiping housekeeper. Some may prefer The Quiet Man, but this is a far superior film, and one of Ford's most memorable achievements.

Verdict: Just lovely. ***1/2.

'TIS HERSELF Maureen O'Hara

'TIS HERSELF A Memoir. Maureen O'Hara with John Nicoletti. Simon and Schuster; 2004.

Extremely well-written by Nicoletti, this memoir of the red-headed Irish actress describes her journey from Good Catholic Girl in Dublin from a well-heeled, cultured family, to life in Hollywood as a movie star, most famously associated with Johns Ford and Wayne. As O'Hara describes the making of such films as How Green Was My Valley and The Quiet Man, as well as the turmoil of her private life and disastrous early marriages, the book almost reads more like a page-turning novel than non-fiction. While the last sections of the book are not quite as absorbing, there is still some interesting stuff surrounding the mysterious death of her last husband, and some readers may enjoy her inside tales of her long friendship with "Duke" Wayne. The most fascinating material has to do with the contrary character of director John Ford, who used her more than any other actress, but snapped that she couldn't act when asked about her by a student. Ford's love/hate for O'Hara went on for decades, and she observes that he was probably conflicted about his sexuality -- she saw him smooching with a guy -- and imagined he was in love with her [or the character she played in The Quiet Man]. Her religiosity isn't too oppressive, and thankfully she doesn't go much into her presumably conservative politics [although Roddy McDowell tried to explain to her why she would probably never be honored in liberal Hollywood]. Although O'Hara styles herself as feisty and independent, one can't imagine Davis, Crawford or Stanwyck putting up with Ford's nasty, almost insane behavior for as long as she did [I mean, the man tried to have her arrested, had her thrown out of a film she wanted to do for another director behind her back, destroyed her brother's career, prevented her from getting an Oscar nomination and on and on]. She also stayed married to her alcoholic, unloving, abusive, parasitical second husband for way too long. [Marrying "for better or worse," she married for worse!] One wonders how she would have behaved had she wound up in today's Hollywood or wasn't such a Good Catholic Girl? Anyway, this is a frank and interesting memoir.

Verdict: A damn good read for most of its length. ***1/2.

THE QUIET MAN

John Wayne in Technicolor

THE QUIET MAN (1952). Director: John Ford.

Sean Thornton (John Wayne), an ex-boxer who killed a man in the ring, returns to Inisfree, Ireland where he was born, for a fresh start. He falls in love with Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara) and the two get married after outwitting her brother, Will (Victor McLaglen), who refuses to give his sister her dowry. Until her husband gets it for her, he has to spend each night by himself in a sleeping bag. It all leads up to a supposedly big, highly over-rated fight scene that isn't half as entertaining, long or well-done as the fisticuffs in the average Republic serial. (Someone mentions that Will has 20 lb on Sean, but no one seems to notice that he also has twenty years on the younger man; Wayne was 45 and McLaglen 66 at the time of filming.) Well, the photography is beautiful and there are some fine performances from the supporting cast, but while the film certainly has its admirers, for the rest of us it hasn't worn well with time. Wayne and O'Hara make acceptable leads, but neither is well-cast (despite O'Hara's fiery red hair) nor especially memorable. Wayne was already becoming the familiar bull-necked ossified performer of his later years. Barry Fitzgerald, Arthur Shields (Fitzgerald's younger brother) and Mildred Natwick are more on the mark. But the main problem with the movie is that the characters are just types; they never really emerge as fully-dimensional people. There are some amusing moments to be fair, and the picture begins well and has some well-directed scenes (Wayne first spotting O'Hara, for instance), but it's also too "cutesy" by far, and thick with Hollywood-Irish cliches. A scene that is hilarious for the wrong reasons has the capon priest (Ward Bond), of all people, becoming furious when he learns Kate makes her husband sleep in a sleeping bag. One of Republic Pictures' rare "A" movies.

Verdict: You want to like it but ... **1/2.