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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 4:45:56 GMT
 G E N E R A Y M O N D |
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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 4:58:12 GMT
Tuesdays in February
2/7 — Precodes
EX-LADY (1933)
BRIEF MOMENT (1933)
ANN CARVER’S PROFESSION (1933)
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)
2/14 — Production Code & RKO
SEVEN KEYS TO BALDPATE (1935)
THE BRIDE WALKS OUT (1936)
LOVE ON A BET (1936)
CROSS-COUNTRY ROMANCE (1940)
2/21 — RKO romcoms with Ann Sothern
WALKING ON AIR (1936)
SMARTEST GIRL IN TOWN (1936)
THERE GOES MY GIRL(1937)
SHE’S GOT EVERYTHING (1937)
2/28 — Freelancing at MGM
RED DUST (1932)
SADIE MCKEE (1934)
SMILIN’ THROUGH (1941)
HIT THE DECK (1955)
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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 14:45:33 GMT
2/7 — Precodes
EX-LADY (1933)
BRIEF MOMENT (1933)
ANN CARVER’S PROFESSION (1933)
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)
***
So my newfound appreciation for Gene Raymond started over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. I found two discs of films I had recorded that starred the actor. I really enjoyed watching the films contained on these discs and wanted to find more.
Though Gene Raymond's acting career stretched into the 1970s, the bulk of his starring work was in the 1930s and 1940s. His first film, under contract at Paramount, occurred in 1931.
Every one of his 43 films is on the Russian site except for one, and I would suspect STOLEN HEAVEN (1938) is probably caught in rights limbo. Anyway, 42 out of 43 means 98% of his work can be accessed and viewed.
Early collaborations at Paramount were often with Sylvia Sidney or Nancy Carroll. But when he went to RKO, he made a bunch of romcoms with Ann Sothern, and those tend to be his most remembered motion pictures. He also freelanced occasionally at MGM where his wife Jeannette MacDonald was under contract for many years. He and Jeanette appeared in one film together, the remake of SMILIN' THROUGH in 1941.
Today, the first Tuesday of February, I want to look primarily at the precodes Gene did at the very beginning...
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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 14:54:03 GMT
I am not going to offer up full reviews, since some of these films will be reviewed in-depth later in the Neglected films section. But I do want to provide some brief comments and initial impressions...
EX-LADY (1933)
This film occurred on loan out from his home studio Paramount to Warner Brothers. It was the first of two he made at WB. He is paired with Bette Davis. My initial impressions? Bette Davis seems to be in love with him, possibly she was trying to have a sexual relationship with him off camera. She has less control over her performance in this film than she ordinarily does.
It's a good examination of a hard-working couple who succeed in business but don't always succeed in their marriage. A remake of ILLICIT which starred Barbara Stanwyck, it allows the usual precode dalliances...resulting in an open marriage for the couple that eventually breaks under the strain of continual infidelities, until they decide to refocus as a couple and give their union a real shot.
There's a memorable jai-lai scene that takes place in Cuba, of all places, when the couple go on their honeymoon. I have a feeling this was something that really happened in the life of the film's producer Daryl Zanuck. Has any other precode featured jai-lai?
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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 14:59:44 GMT
BRIEF MOMENT (1933)
This was the first of two films that Gene Raymond made with Carole Lombard. The other one was MR. AND MRS. SMITH in 1941. Lombard was also under contract at Paramount and knew Gene from the home studio. But she objected to some of the scripts the bosses at Paramount were giving her, so to avoid suspension, she found scripts at Harry Cohn's studio Columbia that she wanted to do instead. Cohn was charmed by the actress and agreed to pay her Paramount salary, since putting her in some of his films brought prestige to Columbia which wasn't quite a major studio yet.
In this one, Gene's an irresponsible playboy who becomes smitten with Carole Lombard, who works as a club entertainer. She gives up her career to marry him, but the marriage quickly turns sour since Gene's character won't buckle down and hold a job...probably because he doesn't have to with all that family money in the bank! The two break up, and she goes back to entertaining. Of course, Gene finally starts to take responsibility and eventually wins Carole back before the end of the story.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 15:04:25 GMT
ANN CARVER'S PROFESSION (1933)
This was another film Gene Raymond made on loan out to Columbia. It's really a starring vehicle for Fay Wray, with the script written by Fay's husband Robert Riskin. In many ways it's typical of films from this era. Part romcom in the beginning, it quickly ventures into more dramatic territory. Wray's a woman with a law degree who decides against pursing a career in that field to become a dutiful stay-at-home wife.
Gene's character is a former football hero (yes, he's a bit miscast here) who sings in a nightclub (more believable, this). His insecurities threaten to destroy the marriage when Wray is offered a job at a law firm and takes it because the couple need money. She becomes more successful than hubby Gene, eclipsing his career with her very public triumphs in the courtroom. This is a great film about finding balance in a marriage and Gene works very well with Fay. A pity they didn't make more pictures together.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 15:11:57 GMT
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)
Believe it or not, I have never seen this one (yet). It was the first film Gene Raymond made at RKO. He hadn't yet signed a long-term contract with the studio, but was in the process of leaving Paramount and was freelancing for awhile. He has the starring role alongside Dolores del Rio, but as film historians know, FLYING DOWN TO RIO was the picture that put supporting players Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire on the cinematic map.
The first time I ever heard of this film, I was in high school playing the role of Mr. McAfee in a stage production of "Bye Bye Birdie." There is a line where McAfee fondly reminisces about FLYING DOWN TO RIO with another character. Not sure why this would be the favorite film a middle-aged suburban father in Sweet Apple, Ohio...except maybe it had shown up on TV recently!
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Post by Lucky Dan on Feb 7, 2023 15:25:18 GMT
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)
The first time I ever heard of this film, I was in high school playing the role of Mr. McAfee in a stage production of "Bye Bye Birdie." There is a line where McAfee fondly reminisces about FLYING DOWN TO RIO with another character. Not sure why this would be the favorite film a middle-aged suburban father in Sweet Apple, Ohio...  |
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Post by topbilled on Feb 7, 2023 15:26:22 GMT
Okay, makes sense now Dan! LOL
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Feb 7, 2023 16:26:36 GMT
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)
Believe it or not, I have never seen this one (yet). It was the first film Gene Raymond made at RKO. He hadn't yet signed a long-term contract with the studio, but was in the process of leaving Paramount and was freelancing for awhile. He has the starring role alongside Dolores del Rio, but as film historians know, FLYING DOWN TO RIO was the picture that put supporting players Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire on the cinematic map.
The first time I ever heard of this film, I was in high school playing the role of Mr. McAfee in a stage production of "Bye Bye Birdie." There is a line where McAfee fondly reminisces about FLYING DOWN TO RIO with another character. Not sure why this would be the favorite film a middle-aged suburban father in Sweet Apple, Ohio...except maybe it had shown up on TV recently! Flying Down to Rio is a very good film, and most of the plot revolves around the Raymond and del Rio characters, but of course most of the non talking scenes revolve around Fred and Ginger. I like how the film blends Latin music with western music as well as showcasing Latin dancing styles with Fred and Ginger doing their thing with (or more on-top-of), those Latin styles. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Feb 7, 2023 17:37:28 GMT
I've seen all of them (and think I have write-ups on almost all of them) and would recommend all of them. I really like Ex-Lady, Ann Carver's Profession and Flying Down to Rio.
These are good, solid pre-code movies.
Next time I watch Ex-Lady, I'll look for the Davis dynamic you note.
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Feb 7, 2023 19:39:30 GMT
I've seen all of them (and think I have write-ups on almost all of them) and would recommend all of them. I really like Ex-Lady, Ann Carver's Profession and Flying Down to Rio.
These are good, solid pre-code movies.
Next time I watch Ex-Lady, I'll look for the Davis dynamic you note. I haven't seen Ann Carver's Profession. Reading about the film, it appears to be the type of pre-code that starts out with a very progressive, successful woman, that by "The End" realizes a woman can't balance a successful career with a marriage. This is the type of plot Ruth Chatterton specialized in. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Feb 7, 2023 20:08:25 GMT
I've seen all of them (and think I have write-ups on almost all of them) and would recommend all of them. I really like Ex-Lady, Ann Carver's Profession and Flying Down to Rio.
These are good, solid pre-code movies.
Next time I watch Ex-Lady, I'll look for the Davis dynamic you note. I haven't seen Ann Carver's Profession. Reading about the film, it appears to be the type of pre-code that starts out with a very progressive, successful woman, that by "The End" realizes a woman can't balance a successful career with a marriage. This is the type of plot Ruth Chatterton specialized in.
Obviously, I don't know, but my feeling is that audiences back then got the real story and saw the slapped-on endings for what they were, just like today we can all see when movie makers toss stuff in to appease the always-ready-to-protest groups.
"Ann Carver's Profession" (my comments on it here: Comments ) feels very modern to me under its 1930s hood because it's about a two-income couple, who are sometimes a one-income couple, struggling to find the right balance that works for them and hurting each other along the way. I know, as most of us do, couples that face these problems today. Sitcoms and modern movies solve it all nicely to align to whatever the popular political view is at the moment, but those of us in the real world, know it's never that easy. |
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Post by topbilled on Feb 11, 2023 14:16:05 GMT
One of the ironic things about ANN CARVER'S PROFESSION is that the female helps exonerate her husband during a trial, because of her skills as a lawyer. But yes, she is supposed to want to go back to being a homemaker at the end.
The most offensive example of this, in my opinion, is in KISSES FOR MY PRESIDENT (1965) where Polly Bergen must give up being the President of the United States because she's become pregnant. We know that if this happened today, a woman in the White House running the country, about to have a baby, would be a positive media event. Of course, we've never had a female president (there is still a backlash against the Hilary Clintons and Kamala Harrises having complete power in our country) so we don't know the reality of this yet, even all these years later in 2023.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 11, 2023 14:16:33 GMT
On another note, I am going to try to watch FLYING DOWN TO RIO this weekend. That is one of my goals...
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