Katharine Hepburn: Alice Adams (1935)

Alice Adams remains one of Katharine Hepburn’s most memorable performances and it’s the role that defined her in the 1930s. Hepburn’s characterization of the Booth Tarkington character is the one that launched a thousand Hepburn impersonations, with Kate’s memorable line ( “Really I do, really”) becoming the words used to “channel” an impression of her, though she never speaks the line quite that way; see the above capture with her actual words. It’s attributed to her like “You, you dirty rat” is for James Cagney and the “Judy Judy Judy” routine is for Cary Grant.

Hepburn is the title character, a small-town girl of humble means with aspirations to the upper class. Alice Adams is an alternately sweet, awkward, heartbreaking, and amusing film with the “Hollywood Ending” that Depression-era audiences loved. However, the plot of any film isn’t nearly as important to my viewing enjoyment as the characters and the interplay between them. I’m more interested in what the cast is doing and how they’re behaving more than I am in any intricate plot devices which are bound to disappoint anyway. One never has to worry about giving away how good a performance is as one does with keeping mum about a pivotal plot point.

It’s easy to see why this movie was such a hit for Hepburn. It shows the sweet, vulnerable side of the actress and so much of what I love about the early period of Kate’s career. Like her wonderful performance in Holiday--which I never fail to mention—she’s totally immersed in this character and while I know it’s Katharine Hepburn, I completely buy into what she puts across onscreen. She had yet to emerge into the standardized version of the Kate that emerged with The Philadelphia Story and was fully in evidence in Woman of the Year.

Hepburn as Alice is about as vulnerable a character as I’ve ever seen her play. She was twenty eight in 1935 and is portraying a socially-awkward eighteen-year-old(?) girl. Maybe I’m just a sap for All Things Hepburn but I truly bought into her being a young woman here. Alice behaves like a silly girl with a romantic view of the rich much like her role as Eva Lovelace in Morning Glory, who had a pseudo-tragic/romantic view of being an actress. Here, she’s deluded by how she envisions the wealthy.

Alice’s family finds itself in a precarious financial situation. Her father, Virgil (wonderfully played by Fred Stone), is convalescing from serious illness and even though he’s still being paid by his boss, Mr. Lamb, Virgil Adams feels he must work to earn his pay—strange concept in today’s world—and Mrs. Adams who wants Alice to have a better life, badgers Virgil into forming his own glue works company with the formula he helped create years before. Mrs. Adams feels it is their key to success. In a “Keeping up with the Joneses” mentality, Mrs. Adams believes that they’re long overdue in arriving to their own big time.



The audience must wonder why Alice thinks so highly of these people because in the film they are nothing but shallow, vain, and downright unlikable. I found myself despising those “frozen faced” dopes—to borrow Alice’s brother Walter’s term for them—and wondering why this sweet girl would ever want to belong to such an ugly group; it had everything to do with Alice believing that the grass was greener among the rich. Then, she meets Arthur Russell (Fred MacMurray). Arthur is smitten with the flighty Alice and cares not one whit about her family’s lack of means. This is what I see as the main emotional draw of this film.

The fact that Alice puts on the air of sophistication and pretends she’s something she isn’t is what makes her so endearing. She has a decent man interested in her but she can’t see that Arthur likes Alice for who she is, not who she’s pretending to be. There’s a heartbreaking feeling to this and you want to cry out to Hepburn’s Alice to just stop with the pretense. Yet when her family is in peril, Alice becomes the strength and drops the silly dreaming. She looks after her ailing father and serves to assuage the pain between her argumentative parents, who are both frustrated by their lack of success. This is what moves Alice to dream of being a wealthy sophisticate, as her real-life family lacks the financial success of their neighbors.

Nowhere in the film is this tension played up more than in the hilarious dinner scene, when poor Arthur is sweating howitzer shells as the Adams’ menu on that particularly sweltering night is to serve hot soup, brussel sprouts, and heavy roast beef and mashed potatoes! MacMurray's low-key facial expressions are hilarious as Hepburn maintains the dopey charade with a running commentary of excuses. MacMurray was perfect for this because what comes through is not his discomfort but his keeping a good face on the whole debacle. He doesn’t try to play up the comedy, as that is done to perfection by Hattie McDaniel (billed as “McDaniels”).

While the entire cast is superb, this is Hepburn’s movie and her performance is the centerpiece. Going into this I thought that Alice Adams would be a melodramatic mess but Hepburn is perfect in every way. Her emotion is genuinely moving and never over-the-top, Alice’s dopey flights of fancy and pretentious desire to be among the wealthy reveals more about the vulnerability of her fragile character than any superficial ambitions she has. Alice is likable but frustrating, as she fails to see just how someone could love her for who she is, not who she wants to be, yet we're never angry with her and we sympathize with her completely. A lovely film and a beautifully appealing performance by Katharine Hepburn--one of her best.

Poll Results: Bringing Up Baby

The voters decided by a landslide that their favorite 1930s performance by Katharine Hepburn is 1938's Bringing Up Baby, easily beating out second-place Holiday (my personal favorite) by twenty-four votes. Of the 83 votes cast:

Bringing Up Baby 43 (51%)

Holiday 19 (22%)
Stage Door 10 (12%)
Little Women 4 (4%)
Alice Adams 3 (3%)
Morning Glory 2 (2%)
Sylvia Scarlett 2 (2%)

It's not surprising that Kate's role as madcap heiress Susan Vance won so easily. It's Hepburn's definitive comic performance. Her mastery of Howard Hawks' rapidfire dialogue is hilarious and yet it's not nearly as rat-a-tat-tat as the director's His Girl Friday, which would follow this film two years later and is, for my money, The Mother of All Rapidfire-Dialogue Movies.

What was surprising was the lack of support for Alice Adams, one of Hepburn's greatest performances no matter which decade, and Morning Glory, her first Oscar winning turn.

Robert Montgomery Awaits

Years ago, I was discussing jazz musicians with a friend of mine and when an artist's name came up, my friend said, "He's not one of my favorites, but he should be!" So it is with Robert Montgomery; he should be one of my favorite actors, and he's well on his way. Bob's a hidden treasure of 1930s cinema with his suave, easygoing demeanor and effortless charm, often cast as a dapper playboy. Montgomery was one of the best-dressed actors and seeing as his prime was the 1930s, that's really saying something. He's even inspired me to shave every day! See what a great role model he could be?

In the "Suave" department, Bob's better looking than fellow suavier Melvyn Douglas and just as strong a dramatic actor as William Powell. And in a James Stewart vein, Bob's a WWII vet, too. And like most every person that interests me, Bob had interests outside of acting. He was an accomplished director, producer, and involved himself in politics, having served as Screen Actors Guild president and as an "image consultant" to President Eisenhower. There's also his TV success, hosting Robert Montgomery Presents during the 1950s. On a less-exalted level, Montgomery was the father to a famous daughter, whose name eludes me...she's much better known than Bob ever was!

Bob's films are finding their way onto DVD via the Warner Archive, which has only increased my interest. Montgomery may prove to be my introduction to pre-1934 films, as his pairings with Norma Shearer may lead me to a period in Hollywood history I know next to nothing about (I hereby declare today "Admit My Ignorance" day). Bob also has multiple teamups with Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell, too.

The two movies that made me take notice of this undervalued star were 1939's Fast and Loose, with Montgomery playing Joel Sloane, antique book dealer/detective in the Thin Man tradition and one of my most sought-after movies (TCM played it four years ago). There's also 1931's When Ladies Meet, co-starring Myrna Loy. Bob's time on screen seems rather limited but when he's on, he's the life of the movie. There's a scene on a golf course where Bob's charm is evident. This is the Montgomery that I wish to explore first; the easygoing charmer. I'm more aware of his darker, sociopathic roles that he played later in his career. A few of my favorites are Night Must Fall (1937), Rage in Heaven (1941) and the 1947 Noir Ride the Pink Horse. A less successful venture into Noir, Lady in the Lake, (starring and directed by Montgomery) is best remembered for its point of view camerawork.

I hope TCM airs more Montgomery so I can take in his 1930s output. I'd like to have Robert Montgomery in my top ten list of favorite actors next time around. From what I've seen of him so far, it looks to be an interesting and entertaining journey.

By the way, one of my favorite blogs in this old brown world is Classic Montgomery which is a treasure trove of All Things Bob.

My First Warner Archive Purchase

After an eternity of hemming, hawing and just plain making excuses to not buy any titles from the WB Archive, yours truly finally happened upon a title that broke my self-styled, John Garfield,-anti-hero will.

The Robert Benchley Miniatures Collection, a 3-disc set of the master humorist's short films made for MGM spanning 1935-1944 became available as of Oct 2009! Cost was $30.00 and coupled with shipping and tax, came to $36.97. Considering that most Archive titles run $19.95 per disc, getting three at $30.00 was a steal, a factor instrumental in the decision to buy. Eventually, the Archive will have a title so irresistible that even the skinflintiest, cheapskatiest classic film fan will yield. Besides, this is probably the "way of the future, way of the future, way of the future, way of the future..." ;)

Benchley's a legend in the Haven household, and since we lacked a DVD recorder, the only way to snag the odd Benchley short was on a Warners DVD. It was a tedious and expensive process which netted just four shorts. This set completes our MGM Benchley in one fell swoop, with thirty films filling out this collection.

Quality: Another big concern to fans was the varying sound and picture quality. This doesn't play a factor with seventy-year-old short films, but may with, say, a 1960s Sci-Fi film shot in widescreen Technicolor. With the Benchley set, quality is on par with how these shorts look and sound on "regular" Warner Bros. DVDs. No remastering, but all dialogue is completely intelligible, and the picture is fine, considering the time frame and absence of any restoration. I don't think short subjects receive any special treatment on standard-issue DVDs. Packaging is a regular case with "flipper" pages to hold the discs. No cellophane wrapping or gooey stickers, so that's a plus; anything that reduces plastic can't be all that bad. Shipping was lightning fast, with the order placed on Feb 17 and received on the 22nd.

I'm pleasantly surprised when films of this vintage are in immaculate condition--these aren't anywhere near the level, of say, Columbia's Three Stooges Collections, but the Benchley Collection is well worth the price paid. I have absolutely no qualms about this release.

Oh, I see they have the Joe McDoakes short films, too!