Showing posts with label Rosalind Russell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rosalind Russell. Show all posts
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| Sydney Greenstreet and Rosalind Russell |
"You've produced so many bad plays you're beginning to believe them."
Broadway actress Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) wants to break away from her usual producer, Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames) and the treacle he has her appear in, and try "Hedda Gabler," but he only laughs at her. Dunning, who refuses to let her go and is carrying a torch for her as well, threatens her, and during a struggle Valerie bops him on the head and kills him. This is followed by a long flashback during which Valerie meets new love Michael Morrell (Leo Genn of Personal Affair), who is not only unimpressed by her status but is positively condescending -- and unattractive to boot; nevertheless Valerie falls for him. The third part of the film brings in Sydney Greenstreet as the corpulent Captain Danbury, who is a fan of Val's and is investigating the murder. The front runner in suspects is not Val but Marian Webster (Claire Trevor), who has been pining for Dunning for years, hates Val, and is incredibly bitter. Will Valerie come clean about what happened, or let Marian take the rap? The Velvet Touch is no All About Eve -- made two years later -- but it is a very entertaining backstage drama with an outstanding performance by Russell and fine support from Trevor [The High and the Mighty], Ames, and Greenstreet. Irving Bacon scores as a chatty waiter at Sardi's, and Lex Barker is also in the cast as a young actor.
Verdict: Strangely compelling. ***.
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| Rosalind Russell lost in a fantasy |
Janet Ames (Rosalind Russell) is a war widow whose husband died throwing himself on a grenade, thereby saving the lives of five men. A bitter Janet decides to find out if these five men were worthier of life than her husband, but the problem is the method the film employs to help her do so. Instead of actually meeting these men (aside from one of them) Janet encounters an alcoholic reporter named "Smitty" (Melvyn Douglas) who helps her fantasize about these men in tiresome dream sequences, supposedly inspired by a character in Peter Ibbetson. [One of these men is comic Sid Caesar of Curse of the Black Widow playing, well, a comic.] Smitty has his own dark secret, relating to Janet's husband, and Janet also has to face some harsh truths about her marriage. The premise is excellent, and this is -- or could have been -- strong, adult material, but the screenplay and approach are silly and pull the viewer out of the story despite some interesting developments. Russell and Douglas both give excellent performances, however. Arthur Space [Target Earth], Hugh Beaumont [Murder is My Business], and Harry von Zell are also in the cast.
Verdict: Perhaps well-intentioned, but it just doesn't work. **.
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| John Boles and Rosalind Russell |
"If a wife is the right kind of woman, her destiny should be in her own hands, not her husband's."
In the second film version of George Kelly's Pulitzer prize-winning play (after the silent), Rosalind Russell stars as Harriet Craig, whose home and its furnishings are the most important things in her life, much more important than people. Harriet likes things just so, and isn't above running other people's lives when she feels the need to. When a friend of Walter, her husband's (John Boles), murders his wife and commits suicide, Harriet fears their involvement may cause an unwanted wrinkle in their pristine universe. In the meantime, Walter's beloved Aunt Ellen (Alma Kruger of Saboteur) objects to the way her niece-by-marriage keeps everyone out of her home, and is slowly but surely distancing Walter from all of his friends, and has it out with her. "It isn't an opinion I have of you, Harriet," she tells the younger woman. "It's you I have." Harriet's sister is sick, so she has her own niece, Ethel (Dorothy Wilson), stay with her and tries to run her life as well. Craig's Wife is pretty faithful to the play [unlike the remake with Joan Crawford] but the problem is that Kelly's play is rather dated, and by no means can be seen as having a truly feminist perspective despite some of Harriet's cold if sensible attitudes. The performances are all very good, including Billie Burke as the widowed neighbor, Mrs. Frasier, and Jane Darwell as the housekeeper, Mrs. Harold. Arzner also directed Merrily We Go to Hell.
Verdict: Intriguing at times despite its age, and well-acted by all. ***.