The New Golden Age

I've thought long and hard--it's time for a change. The Golden Age, as I now define it, shall include early-'70s movies and if there happens to be any old-time stars in said films, then that's fine, too. What's better than seeing John Wayne in a dried-out gray toupee and emptying a MAC-10 submachinegun into Al "The Turk" Lettieri and his polyester-suited goons? Wayne was offered the role of Dirty Harry first but turned it down. So to compensate for his boneheaded judgement, he made McQ (1974), the movie that features The Duke rollin' down the mean streets of Seattle to Elmer Bernstein's funky score, lookin' to bend his badge over some drug peddler's skull. McQ is John Wayne at his vigilante best!

Glamour is best defined by how good members of the pimping community think you look, so a plaid, ginormous-lapeled Sears suit with white shoes and necktie as wide as the berth you'd give a Great White shark *is* the new definition of glam. Besides, if the 1930s were so great, then why did we abandon those styles? Who needs Carole Lombard when you have Glenda Jackson? Who needs William Powell when there's Tiny Tim? Laugh-In says more about our lives than Robert Benchley ever could! And why would women ever need support garments? "Ms." is a perfectly fine way to address a newly-libererated woman wearing ten-inch-tall cork souled shoes and hot pants, right? I say to heck with the '30s and '40s and huzzah to the Charles Bronson Deathwish 'stache, and the Lucille Ball Mame vaseline cheesecloth filter! Forget "happy days are here again" and let's embrace "Power to the People!" Now the question is...can you all dig it?

It's Ginger Rogers They Come to See, Part II

I guess I'd better thank Turner Classic Movies for making Ginger Rogers their March Star of the Month! This, my own miserable corner of the bloggosphere, has received maybe four times the amount of visitors--and spammers--since Ginger's movies started being shown on Wednesdays. As mentioned before, the most popular search term is "Ginger Rogers [sans clothing]", with "Gloria Grahame [sans clothing]" hanging on to second place; they won't find that stuf here, though, this is a family-friendly blog. Star of Midnight (our April, 2009 review has new screen caps--take a look), a delightful Thin Man-esque mystery starring Ginger and William Powell, also gets searched a lot, and of course Ginger Rogers Swing Time Dress, which has been lifted from here more than any other photo that *I've* nipped from other sites!

I'm thrilled that Ginger still wows 'em! I like to think that she's gaining legions of new fans with every re-airing of Swing Time, and that some drably-attired "T-Shirt and Jeans Girl" will discover the glamour that is the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Scenes I Love: The Thin Man (1934)

In The Thin Man, there's a wonderful scene that takes place during Nick and Nora's Christmas party and where Nora (Myrna Loy) sports that gorgeous, I-wish-women-today-dressed-up dress. The sequence has Mrs. Charles entering the bedroom of their swank NYC hotel and finding husband Nick (William Powell) and the comely young Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O'Sullivan) arrives to see Nick and admit to shooting Julia Wolf. The young lady falls into Nick's arms and as our favorite gentleman detective consoles her, who but Nora would enter the room and see her husband embracing another woman. Nick responds in his typically playful way:



So how does Mrs. Charles react to this? Well, seeing as their relationship is among the best ever depicted on film, the ever-cool Nora responds with her usual panache:

I love that! Using no dialogue whatsoever, our two stars convey everything about their successful marriage. Nora knows darn well that Nick wouldn't stray, and Nick knows he's playing up the suavity for which he's known. He knows that she knows that there's no hanky panky going on but she still gives him "heck" for being in such a position.

One would be hard pressed to think of many films that depict a loving, playful, and vibrant relationship at its peak. Most movies depict the beginning or twilight of a married couple but Nick and Nora are among the elite couples that are enjoying themselves in the middle of their relationship. Once again, The Thin Man gives yet another reason why it's my all-time favorite film. By the way, I believe I "nicked" this blog post concept from Ginger Ingenue over at Asleep in New York, so credit and royalties all go to her...

Katharine Hepburn: Morning Glory (1933)

If Katharine Hepburn hadn’t won her first Oscar for Morning Glory, the film wouldn't even merit being the answer to a trivia question; it’s just not a memorable movie. It’s a underdeveloped blend of What Price Hollywood (1932) and A Star is Born (1937) while lacking the superior writing and direction of those films. Morning Glory attempts to inject “cautionary fame” dialogue but it’s only dumped in at the end. The performance by Hepburn could be considered a warmup of sorts to Hepburn’s Alice Adams character, as her Eva Lovelace is just as naïve and foolishly romantic as Alice Adams was, only without the emotional power and sympathy.

Morning Glory is the story of Eva Lovelace, a naïve ingénue who has romantic aspirations in the world of the theatre. She arrives at the office of Lewis Easton (Adolphe Menjou) and playwright Joseph Sheridan (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) hoping for her big break. She ends up being defiled, dumped, and dismissed by Easton after a drunken fling at a party, but not before we see what a talent Eva is when she does a drunken rendition of Hamlet, moving Sheridan to tears! Eva winds up doing vaudeville shtick until the play’s greedy leading lady bows out of Easton’s play and Eva must step in at the last minute to save the day and achieve the fame she seeks.

Despite being a pre-Code film—there's some innuendo and women in undergarments that warrant one’s notice—Morning Glory is a half-baked drama that never makes its move. We never feel for Eva Lovelace like we would Alice Adams. The film does boast a top-notch cast: Adolphe Menjou, playing another stage producer like he would in Stage Door, only without the wit; Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., as the playwright, spends the duration of the movie with a pipe stuck in his mug (because writers always smoke pipes) when he's not half-heartedly fawning over Hepburn; C. Aubrey Smith, who’s charming and not his usual blustery, "Pip-Pip" self but he's woefully underused. An interesting thing to notice about the actors here is that the men are all quite naturalistic in their performances while the women (save Kate) play their parts with over-the-top gusto.

As for Hepburn’s performance, she’s fine but her character is surprisingly one note and woefully underdeveloped, with little script and helpful direction to flesh out her character. Director Lowell Sherman is no George Cukor or George Stevens, that’s for sure. One laments what those two directors could’ve done with this material. The film is a brief 73 minutes but the first twenty is spent in a static scene in Menjou’s office where he and Dougie, Jr. are trying to cast the latter’s play. This is where the film does its cast a disservice. Morning Glory could’ve packed more character study into its lean running time instead of flailing away at a plot that’s even leaner. Hepburn's not even on screen as much as she should be! Besides that, the narrative lets her character down, as we don't get to see her trials in her quest to be a great actress; they're mentioned in an offhand way to no dramatic effect.

The Bottom Line: Morning Glory is notable only for being Katharine Hepburn’s first Oscar winner—she beat out May Robson in Lady for a Day and Diana Wynyard in Cavalcade. After seeing Morning Glory it only makes me wish that Kate had lost the Oscar and instead won it for Alice Adams or The Philadelphia Story instead of for this forgettable effort.