Joan Crawford Week: Mildred Pierce

Good day and welcome to Day 3 of Joan Crawford Week. Today I thought we should get away from the MGM years as those were more or less supporting roles and dammit we are gonna let the diva shine. So how about we head over to Warner Brothers to show off the film based on the 1941 novel Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain. With this flick, Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actress in this film noir about a suffering back breaking mother and her horrific ungrateful brat of a daughter. This is Mildred Pierce.

So whiskey with your whiskey or just the double whiskey?

With a tiny bit of voice-over narrative, via Joan our movie opens in police interrogation after they discover the body of Mildred's second husband Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott of The Mask of Dimitrios, The Southerner, The Young One, It's Only Money and The Rogues) who utters the name Mildred just before death. The cops have a strong suspicion that Mildred's first husband Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett of Sahara, Dark Passage, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Perry Mason, Lassie and The Clones) is their culprit, snag him and sweat him under the lamp until he sung like a canary. Shocked at Bert's barbarism she cannot fathom why a man so kind and gentle would ever even think of committing murder.

From there we flashback to simpler times. With selling of pies and cakes all the while tending to the house and the children, Bert feels less of a man being unemployed and comes to terms that Mildred has made the kids her main concern and not him. Boo frickin' hoo. Divorced, Mildred has custody of her two daughters Veda (Ann Blyth of Brute Force, The Great Caruso, The King's Thief, Kismet, Slander and The Helen Morgan Story) a snotty 16 year old social climbing and aspiring pianist with visions of a greater status quo and Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe of Yankee Doodle Dandy, Dangerous Intruder, Man from Rainbow Valley, A Scandal in Paris, Little Iodine and The Strange Woman) a bit of a tomboy playing in the dirt. Mildred's main goals is to win Veda's affection by lavishing this unruly brat with worldly good and attention of which Veda spurns every chance she gets, pointing out how common her mother is to be working at a restaurant as a lowly waitress... Anyone else want to drop the little princess out on her ass?? Bert picks up the kids for a weekend visit when little Kay get pneumonia and dies. I'm sure Bert didn't cause that to happen.

Jeez, father backed over the cat and just tore off.

Sicken with grief and guilt, Mildred throws herself into work where she and her supervisor Ida (Eve Arden of The Eve Arden Show, Anatony of a Murder, The Red Skelton Hour, The Mothers-In-Law and In Name Only) work to build a better restaurant into a chain of them for across the country, a deal to insure a fleet of Mildred's making their ways all over the freeways. Veda refuses to give an inch from her mother and mocks her precious gifts. Will Mildred and Veda ever become the mother and daughter Mildred deserves? Will Veda "accidentally" be shoved into an industrial wood chipper? Will Bert meet an Ernie?

A few points on this movie now.

Shirley Temple was originally considered for the part of Veda Pierce. Interestingly enough, Joan Crawford was a waitress and a saleswoman supporting herself before her chorus days let alone her acting days.

Author James M. Cain sent Joan a signed first edition of the original novel, inscribed read: To Joan Crawford, who brought Mildred Pierce to life just as I had always hoped she would be, and who has my lifelong gratitude. Not too shabby, eh?

Pipe down sweet cheeks, the menfolk are talking.

Joan Crawford Week: The Women

Welcome back my fine collective to Day 2 of Joan Crawford Week. Well yesterday we saw the lady of the week in a secondary character role in a dark drama. Hows about this time around we enjoy a comedic drama on relationships, partnerships, love and marriage? Based on an all-woman cast play by author/US Ambassador/feminist Clare Booth Luce (Abide with Me, The Women, Kiss the Boys Goodbye, Margin for Error, Child of the Morning and Slam the Door Softly)comes the tale of Manhattan gals living life to the fullest, some working like dogs while others happy in their surroundings. This is The Women.

A wise notion giving me top photo, Jake.

Our story primarily focuses on Mary Haines (Norma Shearer of The Divorcee, Romeo and Juliet, Marie Antoinetter, Idiot's Delight and Escape) the happy housewife of Stephen and mother to Little Mary (Virginia Weidler of Bad Little Angel, Henry Goes Arizona,The Philadelphia Story, All This, and Heaven Too and Best Foot Forward)who after working around the house and by that I mean everything but walnut blast the wallpaper off and put up new spackle feels that everything is just so and nothing could persuade her to think otherwise...

Meanwhile the ladies of gossip are gabbing it up about an affair happening as Mary's cousin, Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russel of Trouble for Two, Night Must Fall, Man-Proof, His Girl Friday, She Wouldn't Say Yes and The Trouble with Angels) is getting her nails done when the manicurist tells her that Mary's husband has been seen gadding it up with a perfume counter girl name of Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford of Possessed, Flamingo Road, Sudden Death, Torch Song and Johnny Guitar).  Sylvia sets Mary up for the same manicurist so she can hear the rumor and get the ball rolling on how best to deal with the double dealing jerk. Mary's mother (Lucile Watson of Made for Each Other, Waterloo Bridge, Watch on the Rhine and Song of the South) urges Mary to forget this nonsense but Mary's suspicions are on the rise when her husband's constant claims of working late seems to be happening far too often. She decides to take a trip to Bermuda with her mom and let the rumors die out and think long and hard at the whole situation.

 

AHH!! SMOKER!  KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

Upon returning, Mary makes her way to a fashion show she knows Crystal will be at and concludes to confront Crystal about the supposed affair. Crystal is cold and calculating, letting Mary know that he clearly found something in her that Mary could not provide and hints that if Mary wants this to remain on the down low unless she wants a public divorce. Mary, hurt from these comments leave the show. The rumors continue to circulate until it makes its way into the gossip columns and Mary has had enough. With a quickie divorce in the wings, she and Little Mary pack up and head to Reno.

On the train to Reno she encounters a gathering of women heading in the same direction with oddly enough about the same issues. The lovely Countess de Lave (Mary Boland of Ruggles of Red Gap, Six of a Kind, Pride and Prejudice and Julia Misbehaves), her friend Peggy Day (Joan Fontaine of Rebecca, Suspicion, Letter from an Unknown Woman and Ivanhoe) and streetwise chorus girl Miriam Aarons (Paulette Goddard of Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Second Chorus, Babes in Bagdad, Paris Model and The Unholy Four). Settling in at a ranch the ladies' live begin anew, get more hectic and in general are relying on each other to see this through.

A few comments on the film now.

Myrna Loy and Greta Garbo were the only top female stars at MGM that did not star in this movie, it was rumored that Loy was considered for the part of Crystal. The square-cut ring for Mary's wedding band was the most expensive piece of jewelry on the film, worth $175,000 you can imagine how well it was look after. While many view Joan Crawford as the bad girl in the film, Clare Boothe Luce wrote the play to be based around Crystal Allen and not Mary.

Too much high society for me, ladies.

Joan Crawford Week: Grand Hotel

Welcome ladies and gents to Day 1 of Joan Crawford Week. Today we look at the adaptation of screenplay of the same name to film by playwright/screenplay writer William A. Drake (The Trespasser, Paramount on Parade, Riptide, The Flame Within, Dark Victory and The Old Maid) and working alongside with actor/writer/director Edmund Goulding (Reaching for the Moon, Night Angel, A Night at the Opera, Dark Victory, The Old Maid and The Razor's Edge) This film's influence stems to this day with the famous line "I want to be alone", uttered by Greta Garbo and in American Film Institute placed at number 30 of the 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes.

This is Grand Hotel.

Fame overwhelms the mind, don't it?

The Grand Hotel hails from Berlin and houses a curious collection of people from every walk of life. The standards view is people come and go, and nothing ever truly happens. With a crippled veteran of World War I, Doctor Otternschlag (Lewis Stone of The Lost World, Queen Christina, Love Finds Andy Hardy, Scarmouche and The Prisoner of Zenda) being the hotel's lone permanent resident, much goes on in the hotel he calls home.

A member of the Kaiserreich a one Baron Felix von Geigern (John Barrymore of Here Comes the Bride, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Sea Beast, Moby Dick, Dinner at Eight and The Great Profile) a squander of his fortune keeps himself afloat by being a card player and indulging in the odd spot of jewel theft befriends mild-mannered accountant Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore of Captains Courageous, You Can't Take It With You, It's a Wonderful Life, Key Largo and Lone Star) who recently discovered he is dying and will spend his remaining days on this Earth in the lap of luxury. Let go from his job he is excited for a bit of action and entertainment.

Sir, stop farting on my scotch and soda!

Meanwhile his former employer, Industrialist General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, Another Man's Wife, Dynamite Smith, The Champ and Viva Villa!) is dictating to his secretary Flaemchen (Joan Crawford of Mildred Pierce, Goodbye, My Fancy, Torch Song, Sudden Fear, This Woman Is Dangerous, Johnny Guitar and The Caretakers) who exhibits a certain naivete' explaining to Preysing how she aspires to be an actress and displays a few photo magazine shots that frankly had a bit of cheesecake quality towards them, slowly hinting that she will give more than typing if he assists her in her budding career. Last but certainly not least is the Russian ballerina whose career seems out of sorts, Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo of The Temptress, Flesh and the Devil, The Divine Woman, The Kiss, Mata Hari, As You Desire Me and The Painted Veil) manages to catch the Baron's eye for her stunning beauty and fine quality jewels.

Snatching the goods, the Baron finally sees an opportunity to get ahead when he sees Grusinskaya enter the room, speaking to herself about suicide with medication in hand. The Baron comes out of the shadows of where he was hiding and simply speaks with her bringing a little happiness to her face. The next day the Baron filled with remorse returns Grusinskaya's precious jewels to her in the hopes she may forgive him in his moment of weakness. Rather than summon the authorities she invites him to journey with her to Vienna. See? I would have just gotten the cops called on me and charges pressed. Go figure. With tempers flaring between Kringlein and his former boss Preysing it can only in tears, violence and quite possibly a murder.

A quick couple of facts on the film. While made in 1932, the budget for the movie was 700,000 clams. Wallace Beery would storm out of rehearsals and only return "When Joan Crawford learns to act." Both Joan and Greta were reluctant to star as their characters. Ms. Crawford felt she would be censored immensely for her provocative character and Ms. Garbo felt she would be lost in the crowd of so many stars.  

Did Jake forget I am the star of this week?  The hack!

Joan Crawford Week

Good day and welcome to the week, my readers. Well, I posted in as many places as I could asking the reading public any ideas for the week. Alas only one person answered and offered up an actress that I am familiar with but had not explored with a great degree. My friend Hodge suggested the queen of the screen, the madam of misery and with such charisma and fashion, an icon for many. With a less than flattering tell-all book written by her adopted daughter, a film portraying her in the spotlight as obsessive compulsive, cruel and prone to fits of rage. With the illusion of pouty lips, it became known as Hunter's Bow Lips and she was credited as helping to converge America's dislike against lipstick.

Ooo, she gonna whoop somebody.

Having met Steven Spielberg on the set of Night Gallery as a young director and was a source of inspiration for his early years. A cultural icon started out in a collective of menial jobs to allow her time to continue and perfect her dancing. Entering in several contests she landed herself in a spot of a chorus line dancing her way through the Midwest and East Coast when after two years of this she simply moved to Hollywood for the next big step in being a star when she landed her first bit part as a showgirl in Pretty Ladies.

With the hurdles of the talkies driying up and handed more and more bit parts, Crawford grew tired of MGM studios and head for their primary rival Warner Brothers in the later 1940s, landed the plum role for Mildred Pierce allowed her to show her full range as an actress captivated the audience and earning her an Oscar for Best Actress. Born Lucille Fay LeSueur was informed by MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer to her stage name because according to his very narrow piggy little head that LeSeur sounded to close to sewer. Thus Joan Crawford was born.

With that in mind we will examine and go over the various well known titles of this actress that to this very day. Her following is as great as it was in the day and quite possibly more appreciated. Please sit back and enjoy Joan Crawford Week.

More smoke on this film than a Cuban tobacco harvest.

TV Episode: Daredevil- In the Blood

Welcome back readers of this fine, outstanding blog to Day 4 of TV Episode Daredevil. As you can imagine, the Russians are getting a severe ass chewing by Fisk to eliminate the man in the black mask. Scouring the streets to find him, anyone that knows him or have had contact with him, the Ranskahov brothers decide to visit their now broken leg breaker in the hospital, as he was the last man to see the man in black. This is Daredevil: In the Blood.

Judging from the screams, that is a long way down.

After sneaking in the hospital and waken Semyon (Alex Falberg of Katya, The Men Who Built America and Progression), the leg breaker spurts out the details he knows... and then they off him. No loose strings for these guys. Suffice to say, these fellas are as subtle is a grenade in a bowl of oatmeal. Vladimir and Anatoly seek the aid of an interogator Sergei (David Vadim of G.I. Jane, Air Force One, Exit Wounds, Punisher: War Zone, Blue Bloods and Allegiance) who captures Claire and hauls her to a secluded place to "ask" her questions.

Karen surprised Ben Ulrich was not interested in the story behind Union Allied attends a local auction as several of the office equipment is up for grabs and it is her hope she can track down the bigwigs behind the scenes. Ben startles her, tells her to bid on some items or she will look even more nervous than she already does. Fisk returns to the art gallery where he met Vanessa and the two seem to hit it off so well he asks her to dinner, which oddly enough she accepts.

Dude is just getting wounded so Rosario will touch him.

Sergei and the cronies are putting the screws to Claire when all the lights go out... coincidence? Our vigilante makes short work of the Russians and Vladimir and Anatoly are on their collective butts again and Claire is in the wind with Matt. Fisk made a prior arrangement offer to the brothers and Anatoly is willing to accept due to they clearly are not working out well enough.

Enjoying a bottle of wine with dinner, Vanessa is blissfully unaware of how much muscle is watching over Fisk. At least 15 men minimum as Anatoly interrupts dinner, putting Vanessa on edge of Fisk thinking that his motives and intentions are nowhere near as pure as he claimed. Anatoly is treated to a pummeling and a horrific beheading which Fisk has the word passed it was the man in black. Will the Russians come gunning for Matt even more so? Will the other mobs accept this direction to go to war with the Russians? Won't they wonder who may be next?

A few bits of amusement of the episode. Fisk's right hand man comments how the vigilante isn't sporting a powered armor or magic hammer so why are the brothers having such a time with him. The tattoos the brothers are sporting at the beginning of the episode are Vory z Zakone (Russian mafia) via made men. Again the depths these actors bring to keep this series grounded to as much reality as needed is commendable.  It is my hope that all the readers here get to enjoy this series as much as I have.

Yeah these boys look like honest church going lads.

TV Episode: Daredevil- Rabbit in a Snowstorm

Welcome back fans of the Devil to Day 3 of TV Episode Daredevil. A quick mention that Season 2 has been ordered up and I for one cannot wait to see them try to top Season 1. That being said, this time around we find Nelson & Murdock have a difficult case ahead of them as they have been asked to represent a John Healy who on the whole, looks like self defense against a local mob boss and his crew. Is it on the up and up? Will justice prevail? This is Daredevil: Rabbit in a Snowstorm.

A priest and a vigilante go into a bar...

After the severe butt whipping of last episode, Matt meditates, heals up and puts on his suit and tie to face the day as lawyer of Nelson & Murdock. Matt and Foggy are visited by James Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore of The Pacific, Underbelly, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, John Wick and True Dead), Wilson Fisk's right hand man representing Fisk on the QT, offers them an obscene check to represent John Healy (Alex Morf of The Good Wife, Tin Man, Elementary, and In Dubious Battle) a man charged with premeditated murder of a mob boss. Foggy is a bit concerned about Healy but ultimately Matt wins him over with pointing out their young firm may have to represent some scum now and then. Matt gets the vibe from Healy that he is not on the up and up and in fact a mob enforcer but shows the court room the facts of the case which is pretty apparent he is going to walk.

There's a face you can trust... to do horrible things.

Later meeting back up with Healy in his back garb and throwing cowboy with him, Healy gives up his employer's name, Wilson Fisk. He then tells Matt that he is a dead man for talking and his whole family and friends will be wiped out before they get to him. To prevent that from happening, Healy offs himself. Matt has to deal with the balance of following the law and operating as a vigilante at the same time and it is clearly eating away at him.

With Union Allied safely dispersed and hidden under a new name, the conglomerate representing them contacts Karen, telling her they will not pursue legal charges given she broke her non-disclosure agreement (You know, in spite of the fact of attempts on her life twice) and is offered 6 months salary in the form of a big, stinky check for her... inconvenience.

Taken back by this, Karen seeks out harden and dogged newspaper man Ben Ulrich (Vondie Curtis-Hall of Die Hard 2, Chicago Hope, Romeo + Juliet, Broken Arrow, Life is Hot in Cracktown and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) as she spills that there has to be more going on with the former Union Allied, a paper trail leading to the people responsible for Daniel Fisher's murder and the embezzlement of millions. Sensing the story and how deep the rabbit hole will go, Ben tries to discourage Karen in pursuing this obviously dangerous line of inquiry but not sure if he got through to her.

Fisk making all the moves from the shadows is now finding some artwork for his penthouse tower that captivates and moves him. He finds not only a painting but the lovely gallery director Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer of Munich, Vantage Point, Ingenious, Angels & Demons, Man of Steel and Last Knights) who almost instantly captivates him. We see him exhibit humanity in a otherwise cold exterior. Tensions run high in the underworld. Is Murdock making that many waves? Will Fisk and company come at him hard? What about the growing closeness of Foggy and Karen?

A few facts on the show now. The character Ben Ulrich is a white guy in the original comic and no one should lose their mind over a talented actor handling the role. The model of pistol in the crates is a Heckler & Koch P30 which can be a 9mm Parabellum (German caliber created by Georg Luger) or a 40. caliber S& W. The bowling alley this episode was film at was Whitestone Bowling Lanes in Flushing, NY. I guess due to the lack of harsh lighting in the joint. I mean have you ever seen a bowling alley with that tame of lighting before?

Man that body really sunk deep in the river.

TV Episode: Daredevil: Cut Man

Hey true believers, welcome back to Day 2 of TV Episode Daredevil. A quick recap on Matt Murdock. As a child, Matt was blinded by a vat of volatile chemicals that were on a truck accident he saved an old man from dying. While unable to see in the conventional sense, he has a sort of radar sense and his other senses seem almost heightened. After the previous episode the Russians abducted a boy from his father and left a trail of bread crumbs for him to follow. This is Daredevil: Cut Man.

The lengths guys will go to impress Rosario Dawson.

While a young man Santino (Moises Acevedo of Don't Let Me Drown, Remember Me, Kings of Bushwick, Flat Out Amazing and Three from the Block) takes out the trash he notices a battered masked man in black laying in the dumpster. Running upstairs to fetch Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson of Josie and the Pussycats, Men in Black II, Sin City, This Girl's Life, Clerks II, Death Proof, Wonder Woman, Unstoppable and 10 Years), a nurse on night shift. The two haul the man in black (Matt) to her apartment where she discovers he has busted ribs, several cuts that he is bleeding out from and more than likely a concussion.

Matt wakes up on Claire's couch in absolute pain and is unmasked and tells Claire that the Russians laid a trap for him, hence he looks like the losing end of a soccer riot. Knowing the Russians won't be happy until he is a corpse he tries to deal with them, get the boy back and save the proverbial day. If he could stop passing out. We are treated to a flashback of Matt (Skylar Gaertner of Locke & Key, The Americans, Alex of Venice, Every Secret Thing and I Smile Back) listening to a boxing match with his father Battling Jack Murdock losing the fight. Jack gets back and gets stitched up by Matt as they talk about never staying down in a fight. Murdocks always get back up.

Dad, no more PTA fist fights.

With the Russians combing Hell's Kitchen looking for him, he plans to capture one of them and get him to talk... by typical vigilante terms of a butt whipping.

Meanwhile Karen and Foggy are bar hopping and bonding as Karen unloads on Foggy saying she can't bear to be in her apartment after her former colleague was killed there and she herself was almost killed. Foggy's lighter view starts to show Karen there is good in the Kitchen with the community giving a damn about one another which puts her in a better mood.

Matt/Man in Black awakes to deal with one of the Russians, get intel on the abducted boy and plans his assault in spite of all his injuries. Can he save the boy? Will he survive let alone put up much of a fight against the Russians? What will saving one life accomplish?

A few keynotes of the episode now. With director Phil Abraham (The Playboy Club, Hell on Wheels, The Walking Dead and Mad Men) at the helm, this episode is an excellent follow-up from the pilot, not pulling punches or forgetting to show that our hero is in fact, human and vulnerable. The issues Claire has with Matt's flexible morality on beating down the bad guys leaves her in a tight spot on whether or not he is one of the good guys. The atmosphere, lighting and scope of Hell's Kitchen all encompasses the story giving you tragic stories, areas of triumph and insight to the characters around.

Daredevil always looks hopelessly outnumbered, outmatched and out maneuvered in the comics and this is no exception. With fight choreography via stuntman Philip J Silvera (Never Surrender, Cop Out, Chuck, FlashForward, DC Universe Online, Bad Girls and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City) with ten years of experience helping TV, film and video game fighting design, the realism is there, the punches sound meaty and vicious and Murdock gets tagged. No Spidey sense or bottomless pit of stamina assists him as it is all his will and determination.

She is so out of your league, Foggy.