Missing Movies: The Macomber Affair (1947)

As a longtime Ernest Hemingway fan--note the badge at the bottom of this blog--I've wanted to see the 1947 film The Macomber Affair but it's never on TV. The one fleeting image I had of this movie was back in the mid '90s, when I first learned of this movie's existence it was the above still from a Hemingway coffee table book! The Macomber Affair is based on the brilliant story The Short-Happy Life of Francis Macomber, which is included in the author's short story collection, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories. The movie stars Gregory Peck (who appeared in 1952's The Snows of Kilimanjaro), Joan Bennett, and Robert Preston.

The story is about a married couple (Preston and Bennett) out on a safari with "Great White Hunter" Peck. The wife henpecks and has no respect for her husband because he bolted when confronting a lion. The bulk of the story is the tension between the couple and...well, I won't spoil the end. I wonder if the film changes the story's tremendous finale? As for the casting, it looks like they did well. I love Joan Bennett, but Jane Greer would've made a great Margot Macomber, too. However, it's Preston's performance that I'm most interested in seeing. As for Peck, I'm sure he exudes enough Captain Ahab/General MacArthur-esque confidence to pull of the role of Wilson.

From the few reviews I've read, the movie is considered one of the better adaptations of Hemingway's work. I was disappointed that The Macomber Affair wasn't included on the Hemingway Classics Collection DVD set. It was a United Artists release with a score by Miklós Rózsa (Lust for Life; Ben-Hur; King of Kings) . I've been on a Rózsa kick lately and would be interested in hearing this score and of course seeing the film. This looks to be something right up Turner Classic Movies' alley. If they don't air it, then perhaps it can berendered via the made-to-order DV-R. The Macomber Affair should be made available, especially with that cast, as Peck was well on his way to being a superstar and Preston and Bennett already crafty veterans, plus there's that Hemingway connection and a music score by a legendary composer. I'd like to think that The Macomber Affair is a forgotten gem just waiting for rediscovery. The film is ranked #521 on TCM's list for films not on DVD.

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The Surprising Joan Bennett

One pleasant surprise we as young(ish) classic movie fans receive is the "shocking" revelation that Golden Age movie stars were actually young once! Every generation since the baby boomers were initially introduced to beloved performers through perpetually-running TV programs from our childhood or these days-- DVD, since 99% of classic shows just aren't shown on television anymore. Anyway, we grow accustomed to seeing an actor in a certain period of their careers and then after years of seeing that one era of their onscreen lives, we get a shock at finding their young, beautiful selves. Years ago, I got this kind of shock upon seeing Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire. Prior to that, I had known her only as "Miss Barbara Stanwyck" from the TV western, The Big Valley. So, this pleasant surprise theme continues as I marvel at the above photograph of Joan Bennett. I half-jokingly referred to her in the previous post as "Mrs. Banks" from Father of the Bride because Miss Bennett was such a thrill to behold in this picture. Although she wasn't exactly ancient (age 39) as Kay Banks' (Elizabeth Taylor) mother. If I had to guess her age in the lovely photo now, I'd venture to say--22. What a beauty!

Meet Joan and Constance Bennett

Mrs. Banks???: Joan Bennett, early 1930s.

The lovely Bennett sisters are two actresses I'm intrigued by, though my exposure to them has been rather limited. Both Constance and Joan were stunningly beautiful and both adept at melodrama and comedy. Connie's career cooled off by the mid-1930s with the changing tastes from melodrama to screwball comedy and musicals, while Joan's roles slowed in the 1950s after her husband, producer Walter Wanger (responsible for Susan Hayward's 1950s success) shot Joan's agent and alleged paramour, Jennings Lang (guess where he was shot!), who was quite the ladies' man; Kate Hepburn among his many interests.

Joan (1911-90) is the one with whom I'm most familiar, as her role as Ellie Banks in Father of the Bride (on TCM tonight!) shows her low-key but effective sense of humor, but I'd like to see her earlier work from the 1930s and 40s. She's also well-known for her role on the Gothic TV soap opera Dark Shadows, which I just found out about!

Glamour Every Night: Joan Bennett prepares for some fancy outing in the 1940s

Sizzle: Connie, early 1930s.

Connie (1904-65) has two George Cukor-directed movies I have yet to see, Our Betters (1933; July 7 on TCM!) and What Price Hollywood? (1932), which is an early take on the A Star is Born formula. The excerpts I've seen look promising, and I am quite the Cukor admirer. I have seen her in 1937's Topper, but apparently that didn't make an impression on me. She gets another chance when I see her in her early-1930s peak.

I'm open to your suggestions and recommendations for these two ladies' finer films, and would appreciate all feedback on this most-pressing matter! I need me some Bennett sisters!

Ravishing: Connie in her early-thirties prime.