THE THIN MAN GOES HOME

Harry Davenport and Myrna Loy

THE THIN MAN GOES HOME (1945). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Nick Charles (William Powell), his wife Nora (Myrna Loy), and their little dog Asta (Nick Jr. is away at school) travel to Nick's hometown of Sycamore Springs for his unspecified birthday (Powell was 53 at the time). Nick has always had a difficult relationship with his father, Bertram (Harry Davenport), because he didn't become a doctor like his father did, and Nick aches for his approval. But his mother (Lucile Watson) is a peach. Nick gets to prove his skill at detecting when a dead man practically shows up on the Charles' doorstep. Bertram can't believe that one of his old friends might be the killer ... Powell and Loy are excellent, as usual -- Loy is especially notable in this entry -- and the supporting cast, including Davenport [Son of Fury] and Watson (cast against type, like Fay Holden in the Andy Hardy films, as a small-town housewife), could not be bettered. Special mention must go to Anne Revere [Body and Soul], who plays "Crazy Mary," the town's pathetic loony; Anita Sharp-Bolster as  the hilariously weird maid, Hilda; and Donald Meek as Willie Crump, who sells paintings for a living -- the plot revolves around a painting of a windmill that Nora buys for her husband's birthday. Other suspects and persons of interest are well played by Leon Ames, Donald MacBride, Irving Bacon, Morris Ankrum, Helen Vinson, Minor Watson, Lloyd Corrigan, and Gloria DeHaven as a breathlessly pretentious heiress. One very cute bit has Nick and Nora leaving Asta with the coat check girl as if he were a hat, but the funniest scene has Nora unexpectedly doing a wild, zippy dance with a sailor. This was the next to last Thin Man movie -- this was followed by the disappointing Song of the Thin Man.

Verdict: Very satisfying and amusing Thin Man movie. ***.

THREE SMART GIRLS

THREE SMART GIRLS (1936). Director: Henry Koster.

Dorothy Craig (Nella Walker) has been divorced from her wealthy husband, Judson (Charles Winninger) for years, when she discovers that he's keeping company with a marriage-minded gal named Donna (Binnie Barnes). Her three daughters, who haven't seen their father in ten years, jet from Switzerland to New York City -- along with nanny-maid Martha (Lucile Watson) -- to break Judson and Donna up and reunite their parents. Three Smart Girls sort of glosses over the fact that there's no excuse for a father not to see his own daughters in a decade, but as he's played by the "lovable" Winninger, it's made more palatable, if not quite excusable. You have to wonder why Judson would have the slightest interest in seeing his wife again let alone remarrying her. The three sisters are Joan (Nan Grey of Dracula's Daughter), who falls for her father's associate, Bill (John King of Charlie Chan in Honolulu); mousy Kay (Barbara Read), who is unaccountably pursued by Lord Michael Stuart (Ray Milland); and Penny (Deanna Durbin), who is the youngest and most high-spirited of the bunch. Universal obviously put the publicity push strictly behind Durbin, giving her several song numbers to showcase her glorious voice, and letting the other two gals sink or swim. Grey had quite a few credits before Three Smart Girls, while this was the first picture for Read, who had a few later credits. Except for a short, this was also Durbin's first movie. Whatever its flaws, Three Smart Girls is amusing, entertaining and well-acted by all, with Barnes especially good as Donna, and Alice Brady [Beauty for Sale] scoring as her mother. Mischa Auer is quite funny as a man hired by the girls to romance Donna. Followed by Three Smart Girls Grow Up.

Verdict: Cute picture with a winning Durbin and others. ***.

HARRIET CRAIG

Joan Crawford as Harriet Craig

HARRIET CRAIG (1950). Director: Vincent Sherman.

"I don't like trains. I don't like the feeling of being rushed along in the darkness. Having no control. Having my life completely in someone else's hands" -- Harriet Craig.

This remake of Craig's Wife is actually the third film version of George Kelly's play, which was first made as a silent. In this loose adaptation, Joan Crawford plays Harriet Craig, who likes order and neatness and everything in its place, including her husband, Walter (Wendell Corey of The Big Knife). She and her mother were abandoned by her father, and she needs to be in total control of her life and everyone else's, including her niece, Clare's (K. T. Stevens), who has lived with her and Walter for many years, and whose relationship with Wes (William Bishop of It's a Great Life) she tries to destroy. This version eliminates the character of Walter's aunt, and provides an even stronger motive for Walter's walking out on his wife. Crawford and Corey give very good performances, and the supporting cast, including Lucile Watson, Stevens, Ellen Corby, and Viola Roache, is notable.

Verdict: Crawford in dragon lady mode. ***.

THE GREAT LIE

Astor, Brent, Davis and who's baby?

THE GREAT LIE (1941). Director: Edmund Goulding. Screenplay by Lenore Coffey. Based on "The Far Horizon" by Polan Banks.

"It's so completely mad!" -- Sandra.

Wealthy Maggie Patterson (Bette Davis) loves rugged Pete Van Allen (George Brent), but she's turned down his marriage proposals once too often and he winds up wedded to, shall we say,  "vibrant" concert pianist Sandra Kovak (Mary Astor). But it turns out that Sandra wasn't quite divorced from her last husband, so Maggie has another chance to snare Pete. When tragedy strikes, Sandra and Maggie enter into a bizarre bargain having to do with Pete's baby, but then the circumstances change dramatically and ... The Great Lie is a very engaging soap opera featuring a vulnerable, lovely Davis and a wicked-sharp and excellent Astor in a battle for the same man, bolstered not only by their performances [*especially Astor's] but some literate dialogue, smooth direction from Goulding [who also put Davis and Brent through their paces in The Old Maid], fine photography from Tony Gaudio, and  an excellent supporting cast headed by a warm, snappy Hattie McDaniel and including Jerome Cowan, Grant Mitchell and Lucile Watson. Brent's character isn't the brightest in the universe, but the main problem is that Brent isn't a good enough actor to get across Van Allen's nuances. Some of the black characters are treated a bit patronizingly, typical of the period, but McDaniel maintains her dignity, and there's a wonderful bit with a young black man in a tree singing a ballad with a very sweet voice and simple sincerity. One of the best sequences in the movie has the two ladies sharing a cabin together in the desert while one awaits the birth of her baby and the other acts like an expectant father! Very amusing at times. Modern-day television soap operas have used variations of this basic plot over and over and over again! *NOTE: Astor won the best supporting Oscar for this.

Verdict: Very entertaining soaper done in high style. ***.

THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946)

Tyrone Power at the height of his good looks

THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946). Director: Edmund Goulding.

Larry Darrell (Tyrone Power) is engaged to wealthy Isabel Bradley (Gene Tierney), who wants Larry to get a good job and make money. But Larry is seeking something other than mere materialism in his life, so instead of marrying Isabel he goes off to find himself in India. Observing, commenting and interacting with the others is Somerset Maugham himself (Herbert Marshall), who wrote the novel upon which the film is based. Other major characters include Isabel's uncle, Elliot Templeton (Clifton Webb) -- of Larry he says, "my feeling is he's living in the Latin Quarter with some 'bint' who's no better than she ought to be" -- and Sophie MacDonald (Anne Baxter), whose life becomes embroiled in tragedy upon tragedy. As a fairly obvious Christ figure (although in some ways Larry comes off more like an unambitious schmo), Power is adequate, but his insufficiency shows up in such scenes as when he reacts [or doesn't] to sad news about Sophie; he's hardly ever looked more handsome, however. The best performances come from a poignant Anne Baxter and from an especially superb Webb, who etches a fascinating portrait in his personification of the snobbish but likable Templeton, but Tierney and Marshall are also effective, along with Lucile Watson [Templeton's sister] and Elsa Lanchester in smaller roles. John  Payne has a fairly good part and is fine, although out-classed by the rest of the cast. At one point Maugham remarks that Templeton is "sitting pretty" -- Webb would appear in the famous film of that title two years later -- to which Templeton replies: "that is an American colloquialism, which you British seem to use, but which describes my state accurately." In addition to its over-length, The Razor's Edge has underdeveloped supporting characters whose fates never have the impact they're supposed to, and the movie never seems to get anywhere. Still, Webb and Baxter make it worth watching.

Verdict: Entertaining, in spite of itself. ***.

MY REPUTATION

MY REPUTATION (1946). Director: Curtis Bernhardt.

Released in 1946, My Reputation was made -- and takes place -- three years earlier. Jessica Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck) has just lost her husband after a long illness, and doesn't quite know how to handle the emptiness she's left with. She has two young boys, a difficult if somewhat wise old mother (Lucile Watson) and some good friends, including Ginna Abbott (Eve Arden), but the loneliness she feels can be crushing. On a holiday with Ginna and her husband Cary (John Ridgely), she accidentally meets Major Scott Landis (George Brent) and the two begin a decidedly unconventional romance... and soon gossipy tongues are wagging. This has a superb, sophisticated, literate script by Catherine Turney, and features another of Stanwyck's sterling star performances. The supporting cast -- Arden, Watson, Esther Dale as the housekeeper, Jerome Cowan as a lecherous married friend, Scotty Beckett as one of her boys and others -- are swell, and George Brent, if not on Stanwyck's level, strikes the right note throughout. This is a lovely, beautifully-made movie with a moving ending. Max Steiner's score is one of his best, and cinematographer James Wong Howe ensured that Stanwyck looks luminescent.

Verdict: Another great Stanwyck picture. ****.