A Month of Barbara Stanwyck
And what a month it's been!
I've never claimed to be Barbara Stanwyck's number one fan (nor a fan at all, really, except for her epic first-volume tome of a biography that I'm anxiously awaiting the second volume of), but there's something about her that you can't look away from.
I've seen most of her bigger movies, like Double Indemnity and Stella Dallas, but most of her lesser-watched films I haven't seen, so since she was the Star of the Month in March, I figured why not give her another college try?
I can't admit that this turned me into a Stan-wyck, but the last month has really given me a crash course on why she remained in top demand for decades.
Onward!
There's Always Tomorrow (1956)
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Honestly, I want to do a post about this movie on its own so I can get on my soapbox and work through every single thought I had about it, but I'll save my blood pressure and try to be brief here.
First you want me to sympathize with Fred MacMurray? (Read the last line in this post to understand my deep loathing.) Then you have an absolute snot of a son who, for some reason, speaks with a snobby transatlantic accent while the rest of his family are salt-of-the-earth pure American accents? And then you have Joan Bennett, who I don't have any opinion on because I don't know her from anything, play an absolute doormat of a woman who recognizes that there's something going on with her husband but won't stick around long enough to listen to him explain it? And then there's Barbara, who, for some reason, wants to kindle a romance with Fred MacMurray and CHANGES HER MIND AT THE LAST SECOND BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T WANT THE CHILDREN TO SEE HER AS THE OTHER WOMAN?!
This movie could've been 10 minutes long if they'd all just sat down and talked to each other!
I loved it.
Another redeeming quality? This is a Douglas Sirk movie, and the man never did wrong.
The Gay Sisters (1942)
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This was easily my favourite all month, until There's Always Tomorrow came along and stole the crown. Why Hollywood ever moved away from soapy women's pictures is beyond me. I could do without the spousal rape scene; but I was riveted and wanted to see how every Gaylord sister was going to wind up with a happy ending.
And has anyone ever done a post about why George Brent just had it? Because the man had it.
Witness to Murder (1954)
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Oh sure, let's believe an ex-Nazi over Barbara Stanwyck. Men. Not all of them, but most of them.
But speaking seriously for a second, Ben Mankiewicz prepared me in the intro for all the plot holes and how the storyline didn't really add up, and despite that I was still riveted until the very end. I would've loved an ending scene where she gets a massive payout from the police department for all the grave misconduct, but I guess her walking away vindicated is also good.
I'd definitely recommend this one. I would've loved to have seen this in theatres.
East Side, West Side (1949)
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Jeopardy (1953)
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I loved how tightly-paced this was. There were real-time stakes and you're begging Barbara Stanwyck to just hurry up so her husband doesn't drown! I read that this was adapted from a radio play, and imagine the tension listening to this story live!
(And as someone who grew up surrounded by beaches and knows the confines of sand, let's ignore the fact that, I believe, the wet sand should've loosened enough around the fallen concrete/her husband's foot to give him leverage to move it.)
(PPS. When teeing this up on the DVR, having not read the description first, I definitely entoned "This...is...Jeopardy! Just thought you should all know that about me.)
No Man of Her Own (1950)
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There's soapy and melodramatic and then there's No Man of Her Own, which ramps everything up to a 14 and dashes towards the drama. Everything wrapped up a bit too neatly for my tastes, stakes lowered before there were even really stakes raised, so I'm not sure I'd watch this again, but it was a good acting showcase for Barbara. Definitely a great showcase for her talents.
And on a superficial note, I'm a sucker for a choral arrangement of Auld Lang Syne (like, I cry at the end of It's a Wonderful Life every time I watch it). It sends chills down my spine and this movie had one, which was a bright spot.
Cry Wolf (1947)
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BF's Daughter (1948)
When I saw that she was starring opposite Van Heflin in this, my interest was piqued a little more because Van stole my heart in Seven Sweethearts. But then it just kinda fizzled out for me? This wasn't one of my favourites.
These Wilder Years (1956)
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Ladies of Leisure (1930)
Here I am, 31 days later, and I couldn't tell you anything about this—beyond Barbara posing for a portrait—if you paid me. Is there a train involved? No, wait, a boat!
So Big! (1932)
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Honestly, yawn. BIG YAWN. And the old lady makeup on Barbara just did nothing for me (except make me laugh); coupled with the way she scrunched her eyes and held her mouth and it just felt like parody. But I did do the Leonardo-DiCaprio-pointing-at-the-screen thing when Bette Davis popped up! She wasn't mentioned in the Eastlink description for this, and seeing her immediately perked me up.
The Secret Bride (1934)
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Take a shot every time Barbara played a high society woman in a romantic relationship who also idolized her father to the point of committing a crime or creating some other form of drama because of it. The story was a little one-note, I have to say, but there were interesting framing shots and angles I wouldn't have expected from a '30s film.
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Did you watch any Barbara Stanwyck movies last month? Let me know your thoughts on any of them in the comments!
Red Skelton's the Star of the Month in April... I feel like I have to be in the right mood for his humour, but I'll check the schedule and see if there are any new-to-me movies that pique my interest! (Bathing Beauty, Neptune's Daughter, Texas Carnival and Lovely to Look At are all great, in my opinion, if they make the schedule.)
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