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Tuesday’s Overlooked: Dodsworth (1936)

This week I decided to change things up a little instead of choosing a traditional overlooked film, I would like to focus today’s post on a film that I have overlooked until recently.

It is the 1936 film Dodsworth, directed by filmmaker William Wyler with a screenplay adapted from the Sinclair Lewis novel and play (by Sidney Howard) of the same name.

For some reason I had in my mind that this film would be a taxing, cumbersome exercise to get through. The reality was far from that – Dodsworth is a cleverly written, expertly provocative look at a disintegrating marriage, among other things.

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Sam Dodsworth (Walter Huston), automotive titan, is selling up and retiring from the business. At the urging of his wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton), they soon pack their bags and set sail for Europe. It is evident early on, that this seemingly happy couple have divergent interests, especially on the part of Fran, who is obviously bored with her husband’s perceived lack of refinement. For his part, Sam tries in vain to hold the relationship together, even as he crosses paths with divorcee Edith Cortright (Mary Astor was never lovelier).

The writing is sharp and nuanced and the performances were expertly delivered:

Ruth Chatterton shines as the wayward wife who is seeking a thrill anyway and with anyone who she can. She is, in my opinion, a rather opportunistic, loathsome creature trying to hold onto her youth (via any available man). However her time has long passed and she comes off looking absolutely ridiculous. This frivolous and reckless behavior bears fruit in the final act – Fran gets her comeuppance at the hands of scene-stealing Maria Ouspenskaya, in her role of Baroness Von Obersdorf, whose son is Fran’s latest Continental conquest; as I stated in my tweet from the evening viewing:

As I stated during the #TCMParty tweeting event, Walter Huston is an actor that I know his renown for his talents and has featured in a couple of films (at least) that I like, including The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, but in terms of giving him his full props as an outstanding stage and screen actor. In this film, he plays the ups and downs (and downs) of his character convincingly and with aplomb.

Rounding out the standout performances for me is Mary Astor. Absent is the hard-boiled noir dame of my cinematic imagination to be replaced by a totally empathetic, soft, warm woman who you cannot help (like Sam Dodsworth) be drawn to her.

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I watched the film with my fellow #TCMPartiers Sunday night and had a blast! Thanks to all of my twitter buddies that encouraged me to continue to watch along (even if I am a bit bleary-eyed the following morning).

Be sure to check out other “overlooked” or forgotten titles on Todd Mason’s blog, Sweet Freedom.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Baby Face (1933)

Many films were lost in the mire of the Hays Code (read more about it here); recent years have warranted a re-visitation and examination of these “lost” films. The “Pre-Code” films often used the titillating themes of sexuality and moral ambiguity to pull in and keep the movie going public deeply flocking to the cinemas.

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This week’s overlooked selection, Baby Face starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent, is one such example. The tagline reads, She had it and made it pay. Specifically Stanwyck’s Lily Powers uses her feminine guile to work her way up the corporate ladder, ‘bumping’ into the likes of John Wayne along the way.

Thanks to its frank discussion of sex and sexuality, Baby Face‘s release has been said to be (in part) responsible for the institution of the morality–dictating edicts of the Hays Code:

… the original version of the film was rejected by the New York State Censorship Board in April 1933 … The uncensored version remained lost until 2004, when it resurfaced at a Library of Congress film vault in Dayton, Ohio … The restored version premiered at the London Film Festival in November 2004. In 2005 it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry and also was named by Time.com as one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years. (Source: Wikipedia)

I suggest if you have not heard of this film, seek it out. It is a fine example of a Hollywood that existed for a very short period of time but had a lasting impact on the industry for several decades.

Be sure to check out some other overlooked titles at Todd Mason’s blog, Sweet Freedom.

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Overlooked Film: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

This week’s pick for my overlooked film is 1994’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle starring Jennifer Jason Leigh as writer Dorothy Park and her cohort, also known as the Algonquin Round Table.

For those who do not know much about Dorothy Parker, I suggest you look her up. Parker was a poet, writer, critic and satirist, best known for her witty wisecracks, writing for publications such as The New Yorker. (Source: Wikipedia)

Her talents eventually caught the attention of Hollywood and she headed west to pursue a career as a screenwriter. Her writing credits include: A Star is Born (1937), Saboteur (1942), and my personal fave The Little Foxes (1941).

Her successes included a couple of Academy Award nods. But this success was halted in its tracks when she found herself on the infamous Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s. At the time of her death in 1967, she bequeathed her estate to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation. At the time of King’s death, the estate was turned over to the NAACP. Fascinating woman indeed.

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I think I first saw this film at a time when I was quite fascinated with this collective of writers, thespians and other critical minds who would gather at Manhattan’s Algonquin Hotel during the heyday of the Roaring Twenties.

The film was a critical success, even earning a nomination for the 1994 Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, the events highest honor. Unfortunately these plaudits did not translate into commercial box office success.

The cast was top shelf and featured Matthew Broderick (Charles MacArthur), Campbell Scott (Robert Benchley), Peter Gallagher (Alan Campbell), Jennifer Beals (Gertrude Benchley), 
Andrew McCarthy (Eddie Parker), 
Wallace Shawn (Horatio Byrd), … I really could just go on. Needless to say there are a lot more!

Be sure to check out other selections from our own Overlooked Film collective, fearlessly led by Todd @ Sweet Freedom!

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