On Blu-ray: Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton in William Wyler's Dodsworth (1936)

I have revisited director William Wyler’s Dodsworth (1936), a film based on a Sinclair Lewis novel, many times over the years and the older I get, the richer it becomes. While any movie can change meaning with repeat viewings, this is a production that particularly reveals new facets with time. Now beautifully restored and available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive, I recently enjoyed this drama of aging, love, and loneliness anew.

Walter Huston stars as Sam Dodsworth, a small-town auto magnate who sells his factory and plans to settle into retirement with his wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton). His significant other is much younger than he is and not so eager to sink into old age. After years of provincial boredom in the proper social circles, she is ready for some excitement.

The pair embarks on a cruise to Europe, where Fran struggles with the politics of shipboard flirtations (David Niven is sleek and charming as her shipboard suitor) and Sam meets a friendly and frank divorcee named Edith (Mary Astor), who has been living on the cheap in Italy. Life on the Continent strains the already weakening bond between the Dodsworths. Fran wants to sow her oats, but she doesn’t fully understand her needs, nor does she live in a society that supports her desires. Sam is eager to explore the local culture and can’t understand his wife’s frantic behavior.

Though Sam initially tries to force Fran to return home to meet her new grandchild and accept the reality of her age, he eventually realizes that she must have her freedom. While she embarks on a shallow adventure among posh, but cash-poor hangers on, he tries to keep busy at home and abroad. A chance meeting with Edith starts to point him on the right track, but his sense of marital duty complicates matters.

When I first saw Dodsworth, I viewed Fran as the villain of the piece. I focused on the vain, snobbish, disloyal aspects of this woman who could so easily discard her husband at the first opportunity. In subsequent viewings I have developed more empathy for this unhappy character. Even as a wealthy white woman, she is limited by societal expectations that are at odds with her desire for a vibrant life. You can sense her feelings of imprisonment in the requirements of convention.

In a way it is understandable that the Dodsworths were once drawn to each other. Each of them possesses a big spirit; they’re both hungry for adventure. It’s just that their concept of what that means has changed over time. Sam loves his wife, but in his refusal to try to truly understand her perspective, he is as toxic for Fran as she is for him. Edith sees this relationship for what it is, and tries to coax both the Dodsworths to see themselves with more clarity.

It was, and still is rare for a film to so thoroughly and effectively explore these adult, existential matters. In an industry so often focused on youthful adventure and romance, there’s something deeply satisfying about looking at what happens after marriage, parenthood, and retirement. It is a process of facing the truth and finding it devastating, beautiful, and full of the complexities that make life fascinating.

The Blu-ray includes a Lux Radio Theater production of Dodsworth from 1937, co-starring Huston and his wife Ninetta “Nan” Sunderland.

Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copy of the film for review. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.

Pre-code Double Feature: Ladies of the Jury (1932) and Smart Woman (1931)

This week I watched  Smart Women (1931) and Ladies of the Jury (1932) a pair of pre-codes now available on DVD from Warner Archive.

Smart Woman

In one of the sharp young woman roles she frequented after her her silent cameo girl days, Mary Astor plays devoted wife Nancy Gibson, who learns her husband Donald (Robert Ames) is stepping out on her. Devastated, she decides to use indirect means to win back her man. She invites his paramour Peggy to stay with them for the weekend (Noel Francis, who was always good for stealing a man if Claire Dodd wasn't around), with her equally devious mother (Gladys Gale) in tow. Also on the guest list: Sir Guy Harrington, a much sought-after bachelor who pursued Nancy in vain on a recent cruise. Guy knows Nancy only needs him to make her look desirable, but attends in the hope of changing her mind about him.

It's hard to understand why Nancy wishes to win back her disloyal husband as Ames is neither attractive, witty or charismatic. Sadly this is partly due to the fact that the actor was nearly dead from alcoholism and could not hide the trauma of his personal struggles. However, it's hard to picture how even in better health this unappealing man could have believably won back his betrayed wife.

After getting her blood going with a few sessions of vigorous exercise outside with Sir Guy, Peggy isn't so sure she wants Donald. It's clear that she's not the kind of woman to settle, but in this case, she doesn't seem off the mark.

Though it has its moments, it doesn't add up to much more than blandly pleasant entertainment. Edward Everett Horton manages to slide in a few zingers in a supporting role as Donald's brother-in-law.

The image is watchable, though a little rough around the edges. There are quite a few pops on the soundtrack. There are no special features on the disc.

Ladies of the Jury

In a rare solo leading role (most of her headliners were as the detective Hildegarde Withers), the always reliable character actress Edna Mae Oliver is delightfully silly in this comedy that shows its stage play origins. In a madcap precursor to Twelve Angry Men, the actress is Mrs. Livingston Baldwin Crane, a wealthy juror who takes control of a murder trial when she is initially the sole member to believe in the innocence of a French former showgirl (Jill Esmond) who is accused of murdering her estranged husband. Taking place almost entirely in a courtroom and a jury deliberation room, the film relies heavily on fast-paced dialogue and constant jokes to grab audience interest.

With her long face, snooty voice and broad mannerisms, I would think that for the most part a little Edna Mae goes a long way, but with plenty of quips, characters and twists to keep the action going, she never wears out her welcome here. She somehow manages to be both broad and subtle, playing big with her voice, but also sneaking in extra layers of meaning with a roll of the eyes or a dip of the chin. In addition to being able to speak fluent French with the defendant, she implies that she knows plenty about the sort of life that could lead to a predicament in which the lady on trial finds herself.

In the sort of wealthy matron role that would generally involve a lot of pearl clutching, Crane plays against the type as a woman who enjoys the freedom and privilege her wealth gives her and is appreciative of the more playful, racy elements of life. She's also a straight shooter, whose morals prevent her from hiding behind that privilege. Those morals extend to saving innocent ladies, but not so much to following the law in order to achieve that goal.

The heavily populated supporting cast ranges from wooden to humorous, no one threatening to outshine Oliver, but most of them providing good support, and occasionally a few laughs. By the end of the 64 minute running time, it feels time to move on, but this flick is good fun.

Though it has lots of tiny dirt marks and scratches, the image is watchable and generally good. There are no special features on the disc.

Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copies of the films for review. These are Manufacture on Demand (MOD) DVDs. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.

Book Review--The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s

The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s
Joseph Egan
Diversion Books, 2016

In 1936, Mary Astor was in the process of filming what was arguably her best performance in the William Wyler-directed drama Dodsworth (1936). She was a few years away from her Academy Award win and the role for which she would be most famous. She had been twice married, once widowed and once divorced. She had had many love affairs; all a part of her continuous quest for romantic sensation to compensate for a lack of emotional maturity.

Astor also had a four-year-old daughter named Marylyn and the actress's battle that year to win custody of her from ex-husband Dr. Franklyn Thorpe was front page news. This was because the Dr. had swiped Mary's candid, and steamy private diaries and hoped to use them as evidence against her. In a new book, Joseph Egan explores this explosive trial and the events surrounding it.

It has certainly been the year of the Purple Diary. Back in September I reviewed artist Edward Sorel's saucy, heavily-illustrated take on the trial.  His is a more personal, playful perspective. Of the two books, Sorel's is dancing around with a lampshade for a hat; Egan's is sitting by the fireside, with a strong cocktail in hand. I love both, but if you're looking for details, the latter is where you'll find them.

Egan takes Mary's story from the beginning, which makes sense, because in understanding her life, it is easy to see how she ended up on a witness stand begging for her child. The actress didn't have a strong family foundation. Her father was overbearing and abusive; her mother cold. Once they realized they could make money off of their pretty daughter, they pushed her into the movies and lived richly off her salary.

An affair with Beau Brummel (1924) costar John Barrymore introduced Astor to sex as a way to fulfill her emotional needs. The actor could not tear her away from her overbearing parents, but he planted a seed and eventually she freed herself, sneaking away in the middle of the night and eventually greatly reducing the amount they skimmed from her paycheck. Many affairs would follow, and eventually a sexually bland marriage to director Kenneth Hawkes, who died in a plan crash after two years of marriage.

Astor's second marriage, to Thorpe, would ultimately be even less satisfying, with both relying on affairs with others to satisfy their needs. Turned off by her husband's cruelty and dependence on her salary, the actress found solace in a steamy romance with playwright George S. Kaufman. She shared her experiences and emotions in detailed diary entries, written in brown ink that would look like purple from a distance, hence the name it got in the press.

Astor with baby Marylyn

After months of fighting, threatening divorce and relenting, Astor finally decided she had to be free. Thorpe didn't take it well. He stole the diary, hypocritically threatened to expose her affairs and bullied her into giving him full custody of their daughter Marylyn. Due to a busy studio schedule, Mary had little time to spend with her child, but she loved her desperately and was heartbroken to lose control of her upbringing, despite the fact the Dr. gave her extensive physical custody.

Astor bided her time, and a year after the divorce she decided to go to court. She was aware that the potential exposure of her diaries could ruin her career, but she didn't care. The actress wanted her daughter more than anything else.

Astor with Marylyn and son Tono (from her marriage to playboy Manuel del Campo) in 1944

Egan tells Astor's story with smooth efficiency. He captures important nuances, facts and emotions, but he doesn't weigh his narrative down with unnecessary details. The players in this drama are fleshed out like characters in a play, among them the angry Dr.; the brave, but emotionally damaged Astor; her Dodsworth co-star Ruth Chatterton, who risked her own reputation to sit near her in support at the trial; and Mary's clever lawyer Roland Rich Woolley, who read people so well they could never tell he was manipulating them until it was too late.

The trial and the surrounding drama makes up the bulk of the book, and it is exhausting in its twists and turns. It is astounding to think that for most of the trial Astor was working on Dodsworth during the day and in the courtroom in the evening. No wonder she looks so weary in photos from that time.

Egan takes you into that courtroom, describing the spectators so determined to keep their seats that they would bring lunches to eat on breaks, the expressions of Thorpe, Mary and those who supported them as revelations were made and the exasperation of presiding Judge Knight, who felt the whole thing undignified, overextended and an enduring threat to the sanity of young Marylyn. He writes about Mary's friends sitting with her, Ruth Chatterton chewing gum and Florence Eldridge (wife of Fredric March) smoking a cigarette and you really get a sense of how it felt to be in that room.

I also loved the way the photos in the book were arranged for maximum enhancement of the text. Often when I'm reading, I find myself going online to find images to clarify the text. I never had to do that while reading this book. Every time I wondered what somebody looked like, or even how they looked in a certain moment, I'd flip the page and find the image I wanted. When visuals are approached effectively, they can increase the power of a book exponentially.

This was an interesting read, revealing as much about the people involved as the trial they endured. And Astor did endure. In a few years she played her most memorable role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the Maltese Falcon (1941), she'd win an Academy Award for The Great Lie (1941) and there were several years of movie and television roles to come. She tried marriage two more times, and emotionally she would always struggle, never completely finding her way to true human warmth and affection, but she knew how to take care of herself and ultimately came to a graceful end.

I understand and respect Mary Astor a lot more than I did before.

Many thanks to Diversion Books for providing a copy of the book for review.

Book Review--Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936

Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936
Edward Sorel
Liveright Publishing Company, 2016

In 1936, actress Mary Astor swept Hitler and Franco off the front pages of newspapers when a diary detailing her extramarital sexual romps was made public. 

The star's ex-husband attempted to present the steamy tome as evidence of her unsuitability as a parent when she took him to court to win full custody of their four-year-old daughter. Before judgement could even be made on the admissibility of the document, passages from the diary, and a few made-up and misrepresented entries, were leaked to the press. The sensation they created didn't end Astor's career, but the incident was nevertheless a rocky ride for the actress and the men she named in her writings.

In a new book, Edward Sorel tells the story of Astor, her affairs and the trial, illustrating the drama with amusing, evocative and sometimes quite saucy drawings. While the focus is on the scandal, there is also significant biographical detail and a brief discussion of her films.

Sorel has made his career as a prolific illustrator and cartoonist, with his pictures and pictorial essays appearing in publications like The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Vanity Fair and Esquire. 

Here he proves he could have been a writer too. Sorel's style is light and humorous, drawing on years of satirical works. He writes with the tone of a man who has seen it all and who has nothing left to prove. This leads to a certain amount of narrative risk-taking which is occasionally odd, but mostly pays off.

The story of how Sorel came to be fascinated by Astor is an amusing tale in itself. While ripping up the old flooring in an apartment he owned with his wife in the sixties, the artist found stacks of newspapers that had been used to level the floor. A headline about Astor's trial caught his eye. Then he found more headlines and became obsessed with her story. You don't have to imagine him sitting there poring over these papers either, because he perfectly illustrates the moment in a full color drawing showing himself hunched on the floor, reading intently.

Sorel plugs himself into the story in other ways as well, a tactic that can be surprisingly effective, though sometimes he goes off a bit too far into his own world. These head scratching moments are fortunately brief and at least interesting to read if not always an essential part of the story. When he does effectively link his personal obsession with Astor and his own relationship experiences to the narrative, it gives the story a freshness that is rare in a biography.

I've seen Mary Astor's Purple Diary described as a graphic novel, but it's more accurate to call it a heavily-illustrated book. Sorel's pictures focus on the most dramatic aspects of Astor's story, creating images that are full of action, humor, sex and intrigue. The drawings look gorgeous. They are beautifully colored and bubbling with life.

I liked this breezy, unique and well-researched take on one of Hollywood's most salacious scandals. While it doesn't shy away from the sensational aspects of the story, it is ultimately a respectful tribute to Astor's strength, intelligence and passion.

Many thanks to Liveright Publishing Company, a division of W.W. Norton and Company, for providing a copy of the book for review.

Quote of the Week

A painter paints, a musician plays, a writer writes--but a movie actor waits.

-Mary Astor

Image Source

Quote of the Week

Once you start asking questions, innocence is gone.
-Mary Astor

Image Source