Till The End Of Time, 1946

Here's a doozy - another 1940s dream factory product - see SINCE YOU WENT AWAY below - and also featuring Guy Madison, here in the lead (as opposed to the minute or two of his debut as the marine in SINCE YOU WENT AWAY in 1944). This one, by Edward Dmytryk, is another about soldiers returning from the war and settling into civilian life, but is a lighter version of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, also 1946

Three former marines have a hard time readjusting to civilian life. Perry can't deal with the loss of the use of his legs. William is in trouble with bad debts. And Cliff can't decide what he wants to do with his life, although he gets encouragement from war widow Pat Ruscomb.

Here we have Guy, Robert Mitchum and Bill Williams (sans legs). I like that perfectly Californian Spanish style home Guy returns to, showing that comfy Forties California middle-class milieu - dig those automobilies!- and the film focuses on him a lot - we see him in bed quite a bit, he jitterbugs with the girl next door, and tries to help his buddies, though his parents get annoyed at his lack of direction and choosing a career to settle in, but hey, he's a young hunky ex-marine. 

Dorothy McGuire is ideal (apart from smoking a lot) as the war widow he falls for. She was later the perfect wife and mother in FRIENDLY PERSUASION, SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, A SUMMER PLACE, SUSAN SLADE etc). Mitch doesn't have much to do here. More Guy at label. 
As a 2003 review on IMDB put it: I would make the case that Guy Madison may be the best-looking young man to ever star in a feature film, and this is his best one. There are moments where his totally unselfconscious looks are just jaw-dropping. His acting, on the other hand, can be described charitably as "natural"; but I wasn't expecting Lawrence Olivier. Guy was an early find of legendary Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who would later "discover" a tall young man whom he renamed Rock Hudson.

4 1950s ladies: June, Jane, Joan, Dorothy

Those 1950s leading ladies were certainly kept busy in that very busy decade: not only Marilyn and Liz Taylor (4 films in 1954 before she did GIANT in 1955), Grace (also 4 in 1954) and Audrey, Janet, Kim, Ava, Susan Hayward, Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons, Julie Harris, Doris and Debbie, Sandra Dee and Carol Lynley and those exciting new girls: Lee Remick, Shirley McLaine, Joanne Woodward, Eva Marie Saint, Natalie Wood, Carroll Baker (a serious actress then) and Jean Seberg.
Bardot. Loren, La Lollo, Mangano, Anita Ekberg, Leslie Caron burst forth from Europe, while Claire Bloom,  Kay Kendall, Glynis Johns and Joan Collins emerged from England (where Yvonne Mitchell, Sylvia Syms, Virginia McKenna, Diana Dors and more were leading players), Then there's that second tier including Angela Lansbury (still in supporting parts in the '50s), Vera Miles, Martha Hyer, Shelley Winters, Gloria Graham, Ruth Roman, Cyd Charisse, Mitzi Gaynor, Dorothy Malone, Jane Russell, Virginia Mayo, Ann Blyth, Jan Sterling, Rhonda Fleming, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, Jayne Mansfield ... and the arrival of Stella Stevens, Angie Dickinson, Hope Lange, while starlets Pier Angeli, Gia Scala, Inger Stevens, Kathryn Grant, Tuesday Weld, Diane Baker, Suzy Parker got their breaks (or not) ... while the 1940s and 1930s stars were gainfully employed too: Ingrid Bergman back, bigger than ever, Bacall, Baxter, O'Hara. Vivien Leigh, Rita and Lana, sisters Olivia and Joan, plus 'oldies' Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck. European actresses like Anna Magnani and Simone Signoret delivered Oscar-winning performances. (This is turning into an issue of "Who's Who in Hollywood" - have I forgot anyone?).

Here are 4 more: June Allyson, Jane Wyman, Dorothy McGuire and Joan Collins ...

Remembering the great female stars of the 1950s one usually overlooks June Allyson (1917-2006), but there she was, busy throughout the decade, usually cast as devoted wives (THE GLENN MILLER STORY, THE STRATTON STORY, STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND all with James Stewart), and usually wearing those buttoned up blouses and white gloves .... she was popular in the late 1940s with her sweet smile, husky voice and sunny disposition, the ideal girl next door, with films like LITTLE WOMEN, WORDS AND MUSIC and GOOD NEWS (that "Varsity Drag" number!). Critic David Shipman is rather caustic about her in his "The Great Movie Stars" tome). She did several remakes: MY MAN GODFREY and our favourite here, THE OPPOSITE SEX in 1956, that musical remake of the 1939 camp classic THE WOMEN) - THE OPPOSITE SEX is almost as camp as a great raft of 1950s gals wear fabulous frocks and June leads the cast, laying into Joan Collins as mantrap Crystal Allen - thats a bitchslap above. She is also in a rather good Sirk: INTERLUDE set in Germany, 1957, and a Ross Hunter: STRANGER IN MY ARMS in 1959 See Allyson label. She was also in the all-star EXECUTIVE SUITE in 1954 when she also did our other favourite: Negulesco's marvellous WOMAN'S WORLD where she is another ditzy housewife ... June later went into television and was married to Dick Powell.

Jane Wyman (1917-2007) was also very popular in the 1950s, particularly after Sirk's MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION in 1954 and ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS in 1955. (Review at Wyman label). She began in the early 1930s and her 111 credit on IMDB include JOHNNY BELINDA (for which she won Best Actress Oscar in 1948), Hitch's STAGE FRIGHT in 1950, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, LUCY GALLANT, Aunt Polly in POLLYANNA.and later coasted as devoted wives in HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS and BON VOYAGE. She later had a long stint in FALCON CREST and of course the obligatory MURDER, SHE WROTE. She had of course been married to Ronald Reagan in the 1940s.

Dorothy McGuire (196-2001) always seemed the perfect wife and mother, in films like Wyler's FRIENDLY PERSUASION, a fond memory from 1956, particlarly her scenes with Coop and Samantha the goose, Disney's OLD YELLER, the superior sudser A SUMMER PLACE in 1959 (see review at McGuire label), and the less superior SUSAN SLADE. Then there's the fun SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON and the enrosssing William Inge drama THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, also 1960. Her other popular films included CLAUDIA, Kazan's A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN in 1945, THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT, THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN,  In 1965 she played the greatest mother of all, in George Stevens' THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. She had also done a lot of theatre and later television including RICH MAN POOR MAN. 

IMDB says: "A genuine model of sincerity, practicality and dignity in most of the roles she inhabited, actress Dorothy McGuire offered Tinseltown more talent than it probably knew what to do with." 

What can one say about Joan Collins? the great survivor, still visible now in her 80s. After her British movies like THE GOOD DIE YOUNG (1954) and TURN THE KEY SOFTLY, she relocated to Hollywood - we love her evil Nellifer with the ruby in her navel in Hawks' LAND OF THE PHAROAHS in '55 (right), and her Crystal (as bitchy as Joan Crawford in the original) in THE OPPOSITE SEX for MGM (left, in that amusing 'tropical' number), before her stint at 20th Century Fox: improbably out west in THE BRAVADOS, THE VIRGIN QUEEN (that was Bette Davis), ISLAND IN THE SUN, THE WAYWARD BUS, a funny vamp in RALLY ROUND THE FLAG BOYS, a stripper in SEVEN THIEVES etc Television rescued her from the likes of KINGDOM OF THE ANTS in the 1980s as we tuned in to her Alexis Colby every week in DYNASTY - London's gay nightclub Heaven used to show her catfights with Krystle, like that fight in the lily pond, on a loop, as we danced. Her tell-alls have been amusing too, particularly on the likes of Warren Beatty and her other lovers.

The early '60s of course brought in that new lot: the emergence of Jane Fonda, Ann-Margret, Suzanne Pleshette, ditzy Pamela Tiffin; the British new girls led by Julie Christie, Susannah York, Sarah Miles, Rita Tushingham, Samantha Eggar, Jane Asher, Jane Merrow; plus the Europeans emerging from the arthouse to the local Odeon: Moreau, Vitti, Cardinale, Romy Schneider, Anouk Aimee, Ingrid Thulin, Mercouri, sisters Deneuve and Dorleac, Elke Sommer & Senta Berger, then mid-decade the arrival of Julie Andrews, Faye Dunaway and the Redgrave girls and, er, Raquel Welch ... while the late '60s saw Maggie and Glenda, Barbra and Liza ready to sweep the '70s ...

More William Inge ...

Come Back Little Sheba (1952) / The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs (1960)

Finally, I get to see COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA, despite having the dvd filed away for years! - as it fits in with my current William Inge kick (THE STRIPPER is reviewd below). This is another perfect early '50s black and white drama, a successful play, and won the Academy Award as best actress for its star Shirley Booth (winning it over Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Susan Hayward emoting in WITH A SONG IN MY HEART and marvellous Julie Harris as THE MEMBER OF THE WIEDDING).

Based on William Inge's classic play COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA is the stirring tale of a life-weary couple who rescue hope from the ruins of the past. Shirley Booth stars as Lola, a slovenly housewife to Doc Delaney (Burt Lancaster) a recovering alcoholic. The Delaney's life is duill and unchanging, but takes a dramatic turn when the couple take in a charming boarder, Marie (Terry Moore). Marie becomes the daughter the Delaneys never had. But when Marie takes up with a boorish boyfriend Doc descends into a jealous tailspin and must once again face the temptations of the bottle. An unforgettable film shimmering with life-truths and dramatic intensity that also nabbed a nomination for best editing.

The humdrum life of the Delaneys is caught perfect, in Daniel Mann's film, as produced by Hal Wallis. Lola is a gift of a part, she can be supremely irritating with her constant chatter, but Booth shades her many facets perfectly, whether pining after her lost dog, Sheba, or coping with Doc in one of his moods, like when he hits the bottle again and gets that knife .... Terry Moore is ideal here as the nice young girl, and Richard Jaeckel scores as the boy .... Burt Lancaster again shows what a powerhouse actor he is, as in THE ROSE TATTOO opposite another Oscar winner Anna Magnani, contrasting these serious roles with his more matinee fare of the time.

As the story develops we understand why the Delaneys are the way they are. Its pure Inge territory here, and interesting to contrast with Tennessee Williams' A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, about another middle-aged couple and the young girl coming between them, as in Williams view, Eddie Carbone (Raf Vallone) no longer desires his homely wife (Maureen Stapleton) and wants the step-daughter himself and is incensed when she takes up with young Jean Sorel, as in Lumet's 1961 film, which leads to tragedy all round. There is a more optimistic ending in the Inge play and film. Booth was an extraordinary actress who only made a few films, I would love to see her THE MATCHMAKER from 1958 (with young McLaine and Perkins) [I have just sourced a cheap copy on Amazon], as she must have been an ideal Dolly Levi then. (Several of her stage roles were filmed by Katharine Hepburn: THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO as SUMMERTIME, and DESK SET). 

 

THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS was another Inge success, I remember its release in 1960, and again it contains some marvellous performances, particularly by Angela Lansbury, Eve Arden and the young Shirley Knight. The lead couple are Robert Preston (firing on all cylinders as usual, in a role rather like his THE MUSIC MAN in 1962) and Dorothy McGuire as his wife.

In Oklahoma in the 1920s, Ruben Flood loses his job as a traveling salesman, when the company goes bankrupt. This adds to his worries at home. His wife Cora is frigid because of trying to make ends meet. His teenage daughter Reenie is afraid of going out on dates, but eventually makes friends with a troubled Jewish boy Sammy, and his son is a mama's boy. He finally storms out of the house when Cora falsely accuses him of having an affair with Mavis Pruitt.

That's just for openers. The 1920s Midwest is nicely depicted and the usual Inge small town life and concerns. Preston is the still virile husband whose wife rejects his early morning advances before he heads off on a week out of town, then he loses his job while she buys a new dress for their daughter's college dance... she (Knight) meets that nice Jewish boy .... Cora, the troubled wife, invites her droll but exasperating sister Lottie (Eve Arden, to the manner born) to dinner, with her hen-pecked husband, Lottie too reveals her own problems.  Ruben has been seeking comfort from local widow Mavis Pruitt - 

Angela Lansbury, never better - the widow woman in her prime who still has her needs, but settles for what she can get and realises that Ruben is a family man. There is that lovely scene as she advises Cora that if she will not make love with her husband then other women like her are willing to ..... McGuire, whom one does not usually think of in connection with leading '50s actresses, has another lovely role here, as a devoted wife, as in FRIENDLY PERSUASION opposite Cooper in '56, and the mother in SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, as well as those wives and mothers in A SUMMER PLACE, SUSAN SLADE (as per reviews at Troy Donahue label),  and others, and two leads with Clifton Webb in THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN and THE REMARKABLE MR PENNYPACKER, in 1959 - that one is coming up soon.  

Delbert Mann's film of Inge's play is a marvellously engrossing film - my favourite Inge, it is not just a nostalgia piece, but captures the changing times, sexual repression, anti-Semitism (the country club dance is "restricted" as Shirley Knight's Jewish 
date is brutally told), and snobbery of that kind of Midwest town. 
All the sadness and joy of human life is here, it gets very emotional like the lovely scene between father and daughter, and that nice climax. Lee Kinsolving too scores as the young man, he only lived to be 36. More Inge at reviews of ALL FALL DOWN and BUS RILEY IS BACK IN TOWN (1962, 1965, Trash labels) and THE STRIPPER.  
I find Inge's hits PICNIC and BUS STOP problematic - Holden is too old and Roz Russell too OTT in the former and its all rather too saccharine, whereas that one-dimensional cowboy and his folksy mentor Virgil are just too annoying in the latter, despite Cherie's best efforts,

Summer re-runs: a summer place in Rome

"A cannily crafted piece of work with mass audience appeal" - The Warner Bros. Story

A SUMMER PLACE: Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue star in this enduring favourite about desire and tumult at an elite Maine resort, from the best-seller by Sloan Wilson. In his first movie lead, Donahue is strong, handsome and unshakably devoted as lovestruck Johnny Hunter. 17 year old Dee is pixieish Molly, a woman/child struggling to cope with adult emotions. Set to a lush Max Steiner score that produced one of the most unforgettable movie themes ever, this box-office hit also stars adults (Dorothy McGuire, Richard Egan, Arthur Kennedy, Constance Ford) also romantically at odds. As Johnny, Molly and their parents discover, love will find a way. They've already found the locale: A Summer Place. 

Any iconography from that great year 1959 has to include that shot (above) of Troy and Sandra from A SUMMER PLACE,  one of the year's popular hits up there with PILLOW TALK, IMITATION OF LIFE and THE BEST OF EVERYTHING - as well as the year's big hitters like BEN HUR, SOME LIKE IT HOT, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, RIO BRAVO and those adult dramas like ANATOMY OF A MURDER, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, ON THE BEACH, THE NUN'S STORY or ROOM AT THE TOP.  Sloane Wilson was one of those chroniclers of American middle-class mores (as in THE MAN IN THE GREY FLANNEL SUIT) and I remember his "A Summer Place" being a best-seller. I don't recall the film though turning up at my local cinema - adultery, divorce, pre-marital sex and teen pregnancy were hot potatoes and strictly off-limits in the Ireland of 50 years ago... . the teen fan mags like "Movieland and TV Time" had plenty of colour pin-ups and stories on Troy, Sandra, Connie and the rest....

Seeing it now its a well-crafted movie with the glorious scenery of Maine (or is it California?) and that great Max Steiner score (which also inspired the pop hit by Ferrante & Teicher). Richard Egan is the wealthy, mature ex-lifeguard returning to Pine Cove on vacation, with his controlling, repressed wife Constance Ford (why though does he put up with her so far?, they already sleep in separate rooms) and their daughter Molly (Dee, in that busy year for her). He really wants to see old flame Dorothy McGuire who has married alcoholic hotel owner Arthur Kennedy (first seen with a glass in his hand), their son Johnny (Troy) and Molly are soon sneaking off for romantic walks and kisses in the moonlight, and the two adults resume their affair too.
Busybody Bealah Bondi watches and is in her element. Constance consults her mother to see how she should procced to maximise her divorce. Troy looks a treat in those short shorts and cardigan, but his acting seems rather limited ... (he was ok though in those small parts in IMITATION OF LIFE and THE CROWDED SKY - Troy label). 

Constance & plastic christmas tree

Storm clouds gather as the teens are stranded on a beach all night and Molly's mother insists a doctor examine her to make sure nothing happened ... there are some good hysterical scenes here. The plot moves on, the adults divorce, Egan and McGuire marry and move to a Frank Lloyd Wright house (above), the teens are at their separate colleges but visit and it all gets rather heated again .... until the prolonged (at over 2 hours) climax. Ford is in her element here as the mother from hell. I couldn't help recalling that she and Kennedy were the mismatched parents of CLAUDELLE INGLISH, that other delicious piece of Warner trash from the early 60s, which starred Diane McBain, who pops up next with Troy in PARRISH, below... Dorothy McGuire seems an under-rated lady now, but was terrific with Cooper in FRIENDLY PERSUASION (1956), SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON and others like THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (1960).

Director Delmar Daves made his name with some great westerns like DRUM BEAT (my father took me to that in 1954, one of the first westerns I saw as a kid), and the original 3.10 TO YUMA, COWBOY and that good Gary Cooper one I liked THE HANGING TREE in '59,  and he scripted WHITE FEATHER - he then turned to these lush Warner melodramas showcasing their new star Troy Donahue; the hit of A SUMMER PLACE was followed with PARRISH and SUSAN SLADE both '61 and ROME ADVENTURE in '62. He also did another Italian one THE BATTLE OF THE VILLA FIORITA in '65 which has been long unseen, and also that 1964 one I saw and reviewed a while ago: YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE (trash label) as well as SPENCER'S MOUNTAIN in '63 which became THE WALTONS. 

PARRISH is another delicious romantic saga now and was a hit too, as Parrish (Troy) and his mother (Claudette Colbert) move to tobacco country in Connecticut. The adults are great here: warring Karl Malden (also terrific in Daves' HANGING TREE) and Dean Jagger, as Parrish romances Connie Stevens, stunning Diane McBain and Sharon Hugueny. Troy looks the business and the girls, particularly McBain, are all equally showcased. Max Steiner scores again and its a lush treat for anytime. (This was as weirdly enjoyable as Elvis over at Fox romancing Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld and Millie Perkins in Jerry Wald's WILD IN THE COUNTRY. Sheer hokum.) 

SUSAN SLADE is certainly a kitsch classic now too ...but a more hysterical sudser, no wonder it has not been seen for a long time. Connie Stevens again is Susan, who has a baby out of wedlock and her mother (Dorothy McGuire again) pretends to be the infant's mother, which causes no end of melodramatics as Susan is wooed by horse-trainer Troy (love the red windbreaker jacket), while Lloyd Nolan is sterling as Susie's father. Max scores the music again and its lushly shot by Lucien Ballard.

Dear Prudence

ROME ADVENTURE, 1962, was titled LOVERS MUST LEARN here, the title of the book our librarian heroine Prudence Bell (Suzanne Pleshette in her debut) resigns over at the start and sets off for Italy to find romance. Rosanno Brazzi is of course the older Italian man who has romantic designs on Prue and Troy is also resident at the nice villa. Rome looks curiously empty as our duo explore the sights on their scooter, and we also get a travelogue of Italy taking in the leaning tower of Pisa, the Lakes and other delights. Italy was popular with Americans then: Gable with Loren in IT STARTED IN NAPLES, Rock with Gina (and Sandra!) in COME SEPTEMBER, Vivien in Rome for her ROMAN SPRING OF MRS STONE,  Minnelli's TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA in Florence and Angie Dickinson as JESSICA (after Italy being discovered in the '50s by ROMAN HOLIDAY and THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN. among others as that LA DOLCE VITA era took off).

Angie also co-stars here as Troy's previous lover, who leaves at the start - but, guess what, she returns (and wears a fabulously slinky ensemble to reclaim her lover at that dinner she hosts)  .... we also get Constance Ford again as the bookshop owner where Prudence works - "The American Bookshop" small on the outside but the large interior is actually the library set from Warners THE MUSIC MAN, (right). There is also another lush Steiner score and a great song "Al Di La"- its all a delirious confection as "written for the screen" (rather tongue in cheek surely as each cliche is burnished) by and directed by Daves. Troy though was not in Daves next, as it was the turn of another Warner Bros contract blonde (James Franciscus) as YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE. 
Suzanne was nice too in that one, and of course in THE BIRDS, FATE IS THE HUNTER (Suzanne label) etc, and looked just the same in WILL AND GRACE as Karen's mother! - fun too seeing her in later roles like THE QUEEN OF MEAN! She and Troy were married for a year or so ... Troy though, like Tab Hunter and Fabian, did not stay a heart-throb for too long - by the mid '60s those new guys like Beatty and Redford were taking over .... but these kitch classics by Delmar Daves have stood the test of time and are now all re-issued as a boxset with another of Troy's I do not know: PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND from '63. Troy may have had his limitations as an actor - as seen by his Romeo scene at Juliet's balcony in Verona (this was among 19 minutes of travelogue cut from the English release version! - according to the "Films & Filming" review).  Troy and Suzanne (& McBain) also did a so-so western for Raoul Walsh, A DISTANT TRUMPET in 1964, looking incongrous out west.
[Troy Donahue 1936-2001, Sandra Dee 1942-2005, Suzanne Pleshette 1937-2008].