Post by topbilled on Mar 19, 2024 13:29:50 GMT
Jane Wyman snagged a contract at Warner Brothers in the late 1930s. She was mentored by one of the studio’s top actresses, Kay Francis. While Francis’ forte was melodrama, and this genre would also serve Wyman well in later years, the fresh-faced Warner Brothers starlet quickly proved she was adept at all kinds of material. She made a variety of programmers, some with first husband Ronald Reagan, during the late 30s and early 40s. Her breakthrough, however, did not really occur until she was loaned out to Paramount for Billy Wilder’s sobering drama THE LOST WEEKEND in 1945. Wyman played Ray Milland’s girlfriend who tries to keep him away from the bottle during a tense three-day period. Back at Warners, Wyman followed this up with the musical NIGHT AND DAY and another hit on loan-out—MGM’s adaptation of THE YEARLING. Convinced that she could handle more serious material, Jack Warner cast her as a tragic young woman in JOHNNY BELINDA which led to an Oscar. And though she began to freelance in the 50s, she would still continue to work for Warner Brothers. There was a biopic about Will Rogers in which she played Rogers’ wife; and there was also a spiritual melodrama called MIRACLE IN THE RAIN with Van Johnson which she made for the studio in 1956.
Check out:
MAKE YOUR OWN BED (1944)
JOHNNY BELINDA (1948)
SO BIG (1953)