"Four Daughters" 1938: Reviewed

Last night I decided that Priscilla Lane was pretty.  Well, no; I take that back.  Miss Lane is gorgeous--so gorgeous I deemed her Myrna Loy gorgeous.  (I assume we’ve all seen Myrna, so you know that’s saying something.)  And so that's what drove me to watch “Four Daughters” last night.  Before I go on, I want to point something out: when I watch a movie on this site, I normally have 3 tabs up.  The 1^st tab is, of course, the movie.  The 2^nd is its Wikipedia page.  And the 3^rd (which I pull up after I finish the picture) would be the IMDb page.  Anyway—According to Wiki, “Four Daughters” is a musical drama.  I slightly disagree with this.  I would not say this movie is a musical (so musical-haters, you’re all set), although it does have a few songs here and there.  It stars 3 of the 4 Lane sisters: Lola Lane, Rosemary Lane, and Priscilla Lane.  The 4^th, Leota, did audition for a role in this film but did not make the cut.  She was instead replaced with Gale Page.  Combined, these four make the four daughters, the movie’s namesake.  Alongside them are Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, John Garfield, Dick Foran, Frank McHugh, and May Robson.  Four Daughters was nominated for 5 Academy Awards but did not receive any.

“Four Daughters” opens with the opening credits (as is customary) over bits of video of the four daughters.  Funny side note—as they announce the actresses for the four daughters you see: Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, and Gale Page.  Cut to a lovely looking house from which lovely signing and instrument playing is coming from.  See, the Lemp family is very musically talented.  Ann Lemp (Priscilla) plays the violin and is the youngest.   Kay Lemp (Rosemary) is the singer and guitarist in the group and 3^rd to be born.  Thea (Lola) plays the piano and is second older, and Emma (Page) is a harpist and the oldest of the four.  Their father is Adam Lemp (Rains) and we are inclined to think that he, too, is a musical prodigy who conducts and plays a flute-looking instrument.  He much prefers classical music over modern swing, unlike his daughters.  After an angry outburst about his daughters’ musical talents he heads downtown to ‘remove his name from his daughters’ birth certificates.’  His sister, Aunt Etta (Robson), accuses him of purposely getting angry for the pampering he gets from his daughters, receiving laughs from the four.  We then meet our first love interest for one of the girls—Ernest Talbot (Foran)—who has come to deliver flowers to both Emma (his crush) and Thea.  We then learn that Thea has met a wealthy man by the name of Ben Crowley (McHugh) who has invited her out to a country club dance that evening.  Ernest bids the girls farewell and we soon find them scampering around up stairs preparing Thea for her date.  Thea, wearing Emma’s slip and Ann’s scarf, refuses her sisters’ requests to meet her date (“What?  And have him wonder why he picked me?") and heads out.  We find the girls in the kitchen a few nights later preparing dinner for the family and Ben.  After an awkward silence, everyone is seated at the table and ready to eat, only to discover that Ann never lit the oven under the duck for that night’s meal.  A few nights later the girls learn that Thea is engaged to Ben!  Hurrah!  Ann and Emma decide they'll grow old together and have a pet cat since neither of them have any love interests.  The next day Ann is practicing her violin when she hears squeaking noises.  She at first thinks it's her playing and starts her scales over.  But she soon discovers it's their fence gate being swung on.  We now meet Felix Deitz (Lynn) who declares, after a short swinging lesson from Ann, he'll be joining them for dinner as soon as he speaks with Daddy Lemp.  Sure enough, Adam and Felix show up together later that night and, after some quick introductions, it's announced he's been offered a job at Adam’s job and will be boarding with the Lemps.  He's invited along to the family picnic and it's clear all the girls are a little in love with him.  But Felix only has eyes for Ann and declares it by giving her a charm bracelet while on a grocery run.  Later, Felix is working on composing a composition for a competition with a grand prize of $1000.  This is where we next meet Mickey Borden (Garfield), a poor, pessimistic man who hasn’t had much luck in life.  Aunt Etta and Ann declare him impossible, but Ann starts in on improving his look on life and lightening his mood altogether.  They take him in.  When decorating ginger bread cookies around Christmas time, Mickey gives Ann a nice peck on the cheek.

"I don’t want you to think that was a spur of the moment kiss.  I planned it for a week."

**Spoilers** A couple hours later we catch Ann getting ready to go home after buying presents for Christmas and Daddy Lemp’s birthday.  Felix catches up with her, and on the walk home he proposes; Ann accepts.  The news is announced later that night, much to the obvious discontent of Emma and Mickey.  Emma goes off into the kitchen to get more coffee, but we find her crying.  Ann soon finds her too and they have a short heart-to-heart talk.  On the day of Ann and Felix’s wedding, Mickey reveals to Ann that not only does he love her, but Emma loves Felix.  This makes Ann feel very guilty, and she ends up marrying Mickey so Emma can have Felix all to herself.  Four months later, Thea is married and everyone but Kay is gathering for Christmas.  Kay is instead singing on the radio and they all tune in to hear.  Felix then excuses himself to leave for the train station because he won the composition competition and is going to be in an orchestra.  Mickey offers to drive Felix to the station and they have a short talk on the drive up.  Before leaving, Felix gives Mickey some money to support him and Ann.  On the drive back, Mickey is clearly distraught and is seen driving faster and faster down the road.  The scene switches back to the house and we hear Thea scream.  Ben has been in an accident!  Everyone rushes to the hospital, only to find that Mickey was the one who was in the accident; he was driving Ben’s car.  The accident is fatal and he leaves behind a crying Ann.  However, in the end, Ann and Felix are once again reunited on their swinging gate.

This movie has a few funny quotes and lines, which I tried to put into this review.  Five stars; I highly recommend it.  And if you’re feeling enticed, go out and buy the book; it's called "Sister Act," by Fannie Hurst.  Also, this movie has 3 sequels: “Daughters Courageous,” “Four Wives,” and “Four Mothers,” all of which are coming out July 1^st in a 4-disc pack at Barnes and Noble.  If you're looking for some teaser clips, under the 'Tributes' section, David used some bits from this movie in 'Classic Stars--In Memoriam,' 'Classic Heartbreaks,' and 'My Love For You Goes On and On.'

"The Howards of Virginia" (1940): Reviewed

I’m trying a new style of reviews with this movie…We’ll see how it goes!

Happy 4^th to you all!  This (extremely hot) morning I woke up at 6:15 AM (CST) to watch The Howards of Virginia (1940) starring Cary Grant as Matt Howard and Martha Scott as his wife, Jane Peyton Howard.  Directed by Frank Lloyd and lasting a grand total of one hour and fifty-four minutes (according to IMDb) here’s the synopsis:

Against the backdrop of the events leading up to the American Revolution, Matt Howard builds a fine plantation, Albemarle, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia out of love for his wife, only to see it crumble under the strain of events and differences in their upbringing.

 This cute fictional story about America’s founding brings in a few important historical figures to, perhaps, make it more believable.  The cast of historical characters include: a young Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Walker, and Patrick Henry.  Matt Howard, a form of “white trash,” as Jane first refers to him as, slowly climbs up the ladder of respect within the movie, first by destroying social boundaries by marrying Ms. Peyton, a high-class lady.

Though not the best movie I’ve ever seen, it was still enjoyable to watch.  Gowns were designed by Irene Saltern.  Though I thought sometimes the skirt of the more formal gowns looked a little flat, here are some pictures of the costumes:

Matt and Jane Howard

Young Thomas Jefferson

High social class vs. "white trash"

I read that Grant believed he was miscast in the part, and I can almost whole-heartedly agree.  Seeing him first walk in wearing buckskins did not fit anything I’ve ever seen him in, or ever imagined him wearing.  He almost made the movie awkward; everyone else seemed to fit in, for the most part.  Another thing that got under my skin was the fact that Matt Howard yelled almost all of his lines.  I get it’s part of his character, but several times I found myself telling him to quiet down because he was being a disturbance.

However, every place the story was set looked completely genuine.  The Howards go out to Albemarle and end up creating and building a beautiful plantation, starting from a measly log cabin.  Strangely enough, thinking back this reminds me of The Unsinkable Molly Brown and how they went from a shabby cabin with plans to expand and renovate to an expansive mansion.  On top of that, both men (in these two movies) seem to have trouble accepting their new social status, while their wives are born with said status (The Howards…) or have eagerly accepted it (Molly Brown).

But beyond production details, this story also focuses on the…hardships and stubbornness of the family.  Being thrust into a lower social class put Jane into an entirely different situation and Matt was not always the best at making her feel more at home.  While probably trying to do what he thought was best, Matt was almost always too stubborn to change his ways and this resulted in several disputes.  The need to fight for the colonies, combined with his stubbornness, forced Jane to move herself and their three children (one of whom was portrayed by Rita Quigley, sister to child star Juanita Quigley) to live back at her own home and split from Matt.  Luckily for them and all other intensely-involved audience members, the couple agrees to get back together at the end. 

All in all, this wasn’t a too shabby movie.  I’m not sure if I would watch it again, but I would recommend it to anyone wanting to see a movie focusing on families during the founding of America.  I’d give it a 3 out of 5, at best.

Synopsis from Wikipedia

Pictures from Google

Happy 4th!

To all of you in the U.S., happy Independence Day to you and enjoy those fireworks!  To all outside: happy Wednesday!
I thought I might watch a short on Independence Day, but figured that would be boring to review.  As of yet, I have no movie to review for this holiday.  However, if I find one, review it I will, and post it, too!  In the mean time, enjoy these photos of classic stars celebrating today!

 

You may have heard it from many already, but be safe!  And enjoy your holiday, above all!

"The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" 1947: Reviewed

In the last two weeks, I have watched “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” four times, and I must say: it is DEFINITELY one of my favorites.  This hilariously witty film, often referred to as BBS between my friends and myself, stars the gorgeous Myrna Loy, handsome Cary Grant, and not-so-child-star Shirley Temple.  Sidney Sheldon created such a wonderful screenplay for the movie that he won an award.  This movie is a stupendous choice and comes with lots of guaranteed laughs. This film is truly wonderful; the plot is never slow, it brings out Myrna and Cary’s strengths and definitely makes you question Shirley’s fall from the top.

BBS opens with a welcoming view of a beautiful house and landscaping, fit for any family.  The scene quickly cuts to the household’s help, Bessie, who is in the midst of preparing breakfast.  As she goes to wake up the younger of the household, Susan Turner (Temple), we catch a glimpse of a gorgeous room with a bed to die for!  Cue weird look from Susan that says, “Hey!  I’m Shirley Temple!  Aren’t I gorgeous?”  “Just five more minutes, Bessie.”  Susan is feeling a bit sklunklish but hastens to wake up when threatened with the awakening of the judge.  The movie is very sly in revealing that Judge Turner is in fact a lady: Margaret Turner (Loy) to be exact.  And so the morning starts.  After receiving three dollars from Margaret to pay off a bet debt, Susan heads off to school “The call of the wild!  I’ve gotta go!” to listen to a speech.  Little does she know how much this speech will impact her life!  Next, after a few jabs about marriage from Uncle Matt (Ray Collins), we find Margaret in a court setting, listening to a nightclub brawl case.  The man/artist to be blamed, Richard Nugent (Grant), arrives late but is cleared of all charges.  We meet up with Nugent again in a few minutes, giving the speech at Susan’s high school.  Being very good looking, all of the girls are intently interested in what Mr. Nugent has to say, even Susan (though she takes it a bit farther, despite her boyfriend, Jerry White’s (Johnny Sands) wishes.)  Susan is convinced that “Dickey” wants her to pose for him, and sneaks out later that night, causing a frantic search for her and Richard’s arrest. 

"Dicky wants me to pose for him."

Uncle Matt believes that taking Richard, who is now Susan’s love interest, away from Susan will only end in devastation, so it is decided that Dickey will date Susan until her infatuation with him diminishes, instead of doing time.  This plan does not go accordingly, however, and Susan falls even more madly in love with Richard.  Much to Susan’s outrage, someone else falls in love with Richard—and this time, he falls in love back.  I’ll leave you to find out who this someone is and what becomes of Susan and Dickey; but don’t worry, it’s a happy ending!

This is definitely my favorite Shirley Temple film, and is tied for number one (along with the first three Thin Man’s) favorite for Myrna Loy.  This was also my first Cary Grant film, and it was most certainly worth it!  “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” sure made me wonder how Shirley Temple went from amazing movie star to public servant.  Not once have I regretted watching this movie!  (As you can tell, considering the number of times I’ve watched it!)

“The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” most certainly deserves a spot on the classics list for its originality and use of talent.  Bravo Shirley, bravo Myrna, and bravo Cary!

Update on the Following Posts

Over the next few days, I'll just be posting posts already posted (wow that's a lot of "posts"...) on film-classics.  Since I now have this blog, though, I'll just also put them up here.  (They will still be available at the original place, though.)
They will all be reviews.
-The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
-Four Daughters (1938)
-The Major and the Minor (1942)

Hello to No One in Particular

Let me first start by saying how inactive the blog might turn out to be.  I haven't told anyone I've started this blog up and we'll just see who trickles in.  For now this is just a sort of experiment for myself.  I'm way too good at procrastinating, so this blog is here to get me to do productive things.
I've started a handful of blogs and websites before, always to be shut down or abandoned with very few, if any posts, in the archives.  I plan to actually make something of this blog, but it may take a while to get it off its feet.
So here's to fixing a problem that needs fixing.

(source)