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Post by topbilled on Dec 5, 2023 12:51:13 GMT
Join us for our next Home Front melodrama...
In this selection a Washington official (Edward Arnold) courts a society matron (Fay Bainter) who is trying to ignore the effects of World War II.
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 5, 2023 13:09:29 GMT
This is a neat choice as it is a different movie from the typical "let's all pull together on the home-front" picture. Plus, the cast is outstanding. And the women wear some great hats.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 5, 2023 13:21:18 GMT
I agree, it really is a different type of melodrama. I love how the title gives us a clue about the main character's selfishness. The war is against her, nobody else...and why oh why is she being forced to deal with it and make any sort of noble sacrifices?!
Fay Bainter does a brilliant job playing a character who is initially very unlikable.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 7, 2023 7:26:19 GMT
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Post by topbilled on Dec 8, 2023 15:52:10 GMT
Trailer for the film:
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Post by topbilled on Dec 9, 2023 14:57:09 GMT
From TCM's article:
In the first months after Pearl Harbor, Hollywood was full of patriotic fervor. Stars traveled the country selling war bonds, and enlisted in the armed forces. Those who didn't sign up fought the war onscreen, as studios released gung-ho films supporting the war effort. Released in August of 1942, THE WAR AGAINST MRS. HADLEY begins on December 7, 1941, with wealthy Washington matron Stella Hadley (Fay Bainter) celebrating her birthday with family and friends.
When they hear the news about the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio, Mrs. Hadley considers it an annoyance. She refuses to change her selfish and superficial ways, or to let the war interfere with her comfortable lifestyle. Her attitude alienates everyone close to her. Even though Mrs. Hadley spends much of the film being thoroughly unpleasant and anything but noble, MGM promoted Mrs. Hadley as "America's Mrs. Miniver."
Only an actress of Bainter's enormous talent could find nuances in such an unsympathetic role. Bainter didn't make her first film until she was 41, but had a lifetime of theater experience behind her. At 20, she made her Broadway debut, and was a top leading lady for two decades. Her stage training made Bainter a natural for talkies, and her film debut occurred in 1934. By that time, she was smart enough and talented enough to make the best of the character parts that would be the staple of her film career.
Supporting Bainter's superb performance-- some other fine character actors in the business. Edward Arnold plays Mrs. Hadley's beau. And Spring Byington, as Mrs. Hadley's best friend, is on hand as a sunny but flighty matron.
THE WAR AGAINST MRS. HADLEY also features several up-and-coming younger players. Richard Ney costars as Mrs. Hadley's son; he also played Mrs. Miniver's son. And Van Johnson appears as a young sailor who falls in love with Mrs. Hadley's daughter (Jean Rogers).
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 9, 2023 15:58:32 GMT
"Only an actress of Bainter's enormous talent could find nuances in such an unsympathetic role."
Spot on. I noted the same in my comments. It's easy to play good or evil, it's hard to play nuanced.
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 9, 2023 16:00:44 GMT
Here's what I wrote:
The War Against Mrs. Hadley is an actor's movie. It requires a talent like Bainter's to not make her character an unsympathetic cartoon, as you see how hard it is for her to have her entire world change in a flash. In Bainter's hands, her character is selfish, but not mean.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 9, 2023 16:03:39 GMT
Here's what I wrote:
The War Against Mrs. Hadley is an actor's movie. It requires a talent like Bainter's to not make her character an unsympathetic cartoon, as you see how hard it is for her to have her entire world change in a flash. In Bainter's hands, her character is selfish, but not mean. |
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Post by Andrea Doria on Dec 10, 2023 14:55:42 GMT
only experience with Faye Bainter was when we watched her, on the Sunday Melodramas, in the 1938 "White Banners."
I was in awe of her and collected some of her character's lines as favorite quotes. I even read the book, but didn't like it quite as well as the movie, which is all to Faye Bainter's credit as she softened the slightly superior tone in the book.
I'm going to have trouble seeing her portray someone who is less than perfect, but I'll try to keep an open mind.
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 10, 2023 15:17:35 GMT
only experience with Faye Bainter was when we watched her, on the Sunday Melodramas, in the 1938 "White Banners."
I was in awe of her and collected some of her character's lines as favorite quotes. I even read the book, but didn't like it quite as well as the movie, which is all to Faye Bainter's credit as she softened the slightly superior tone in the book.
I'm going to have trouble seeing her portray someone who is less than perfect, but I'll try to keep an open mind.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 10, 2023 16:22:29 GMT
Thanks Andrea for posting the lovely photo of a younger Fay Bainter. Wonder what year it's from...one thing the TCM article doesn't mention is that after her screen debut in THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN (1934), opposite Lionel Barrymore, her next film wasn't until 1937. So she didn't exactly take Hollywood by storm. But by the late 1930s she was an in-demand character actress and occasional lead actress. Her most prolific years occurred during the 1940s, though she still turned up in movies in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had another Oscar nomination for her final film, THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (1961), as a society matron who accuses Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine of being a bad influence on her granddaughter.
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 10, 2023 16:53:39 GMT
Thanks Andrea for posting the lovely photo of a younger Fay Bainter. Wonder what year it's from...one thing the TCM article doesn't mention is that after her screen debut in THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN (1934), opposite Lionel Barrymore, her next film wasn't until 1937. So she didn't exactly take Hollywood by storm. But by the late 1930s she was an in-demand character actress and occasional lead actress. Her most prolific years occurred during the 1940s, though she still turned up in movies in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had another Oscar nomination for her final film, THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (1961), as a society matron who accuses Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine of being a bad influence on her granddaughter.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Dec 10, 2023 19:15:11 GMT
Oh yes, we should watch them both! I haven't seen, "These Three," but "The Children's Hour," is one of my favorites. I hadn't realized that was Faye Bainter as the grandmother. She was awesome. The horror in her face when she finally knew her granddaughter had been lying and all the tragedy she herself had caused!
I found a date for the picture. 1911. She would have been 18.
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 10, 2023 19:36:52 GMT
The Continuing Adventures of Fawn and Me
Me: "Yes, salt licks are nice, I guess, but they're not on my Christmas list. Were you asking for a reason?"
Fawn: "Umm, no, just making conversation. A cashmere blanket is also nice."
Me: "Yes it is, but Tweed is more practical, especially if somebody is a bit rough on their things."
Fawn: "Tweed is scratchy."
Me: "Your parents lived in the wild you say?"
Fawn: "I come from hardy stock."
Me: (muttering) "Never would've guessed it."
Fawn: "Since you're so into toughness, I guess I'll scratch shearling-lined slippers off your gift list."
Me: "Let's not be hasty, I never said I come from hardy stock."
Fawn: "Maybe we should do gift cards."
Me: "The movie's going to start soon, so hop up here. Let me just move this out of the way. Hmm, what is this? Oh, a catalogue of men's slippers. I'll just put it over here." [The catalogue is left right next to Fawn, "coincidentally" opened to the shearling-lined slippers page.] |
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