Wonderland Burlesque: Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: She's A Lady!

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: She's A Lady! - Part VII

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies:

She's A Lady!

Part VII

Sometimes? It takes a lady.

Or so these films would have us believe.

They promise lots of drama, the occasional comedy or musical, and a little bit of dirt!

Let's take a walk down Hollywood Blvd. and shine a light on these magnificent classic films.

This way, if you please. But remember...

Ladies first!

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Lady Of The Night

(1925)

Two baby girls, born in close proximity, but worlds apart in life: Molly Helmer, a thief's daughter; and Florence Banning, daughter of the judge who would send Molly's father to prison. The girls' lives converge when they are eighteen years old. Florence leaves the security of the exclusive Girls' Select School while Molly, now orphaned, begins her life free from reform school. Norma Shearer plays both young women. Molly's new world consists of nights at Kelly's Dance Hall and her ever-present worshiper, Chunky Dunn. On one of her nightly dance-hall outings Molly meets up-and-coming inventor David Page, and quickly falls in love. She persuades him to seek an honest buyer for his new safe-cracking device against Chunky's advice, as his shadier side sees this as an opportunity for himself. Following Molly's advice, David meets with a group of investors, including the now-retired Judge Banning, Florence's father. While at the judge's home, David meets Florence and is instantly attracted by her charm and her innocence, a characteristic not so present in Molly. Both women are in love with David but both are willing to give him up; Florence thinks Molly has a stronger claim on him while Molly believes that she isn't good enough for him. In a show of maturity, Molly sacrifices all for the sake of others and turns into the person she so often wished to become.

This American silent romantic drama was directed by Monta Bell and stars Norma Shearer (in a dual role), Malcolm McGregor, and Dale Fuller.

This was the first film in which Norma Shearer received top-billing.

Served as the film debut of Joan Crawford, as Norma Shearer's body double. Crawford is the uncredited non-nude body double for Norma Shearer. Whenever both the characters Shearer is portraying are in the same scene, Crawford plays the role that has her backside to the camera. Also, when Maddy and Florence are sitting in the back of the car, that's a split-screen or double exposure of Norma Shearer - until the one shot when they hug. Looking closely at their profiles, a difference in their noses can be seen, and the one on the right is Crawford as Molly. In addition, there are two brief long shots of Crawford as Molly when she first arrives at David's workshop, where Florence, sitting closer to the camera, was already visiting.

Shearer and Crawford later would become rivals, Crawford was jealous of the fact that Shearer was married to MGM production chief Irving Thalberg and, therefore, got most of the roles that Crawford wanted. The two stars later would come head-to-head in The Women (1939).

A dream sequence, which no longer exists, running 42 feet in Reel #4, was filmed in 2-color Technicolor.

The film grossed a total (domestic and foreign) of $326,000: $235,000 from the U.S. and Canada and $91,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $96,000.

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Lady With A Past

(1932)

A wealthy, proper society girl finds that she's much more popular with men when she pretends to be a 'bad' girl.

Based on the novel of the same name by Harriet Henry, this pre-Code romantic comedy was directed by Edward Griffith and stars Constance Bennett, Ben Lyon, and David Manners.

Originally cast with rising star Robert Williams. Shortly before production was to begin Williams died from a sudden attack of appendicitis and peritonitis. Ben Lyon replaced him in the role.

David Manners was borrowed from First National for this film, and Ben Lyon was borrowed from Warner Bros.

This film lost $140,000 - according to RKO studio records.

Constance Bennett

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Lady By Choice

(1934)

Fan dancer Alabam Lee is convicted of breaching the morals code with her racy shows. Her agent has her adopt a 'mother' from an old ladies home as a publicity ploy to improve her image. Alabam chooses Patricia 'Patsy' Patterson, a drunk and disorderly street lady with a past. Patsy has a protector in Johnny Mills, the lawyer son of her old flame. When Johnny comes to visit Patsy, he meets Alabam and the two eventually fall in love. Both Patsy and the ever-present Judge Daly think that Alabam is golddigging for Johnny's money and their attempts to break things up puts the relationship on shaky ground.

This American romantic drama was directed by Dwight Taylor and stars Carole Lombard, May Robson, Roger Pryor and Walter Connolly. Promoted as a follow-up to Frank Capra's 1933 hit Lady for a Day (1933), it resembles the earlier film only in the casting of Robson.

Working titles for this film were Orchids and Onions and Part Time Lady. It had originally been titled Hello, Big Boy but was renamed to capitalize on Lady for a Day (1934). Carole Lombard's character was called Alabam' Lee, who is convicted on a morals charge, was based on fan-dancer Sally Rand.

1934 was a good year for Carole Lombard's career. After years of playing decorative roles that gave her little to do but look beautiful and wear gorgeous clothes, she was finally given the opportunity to show her comedic side in Columbia's Twentieth Century (1934). Lombard stunned audiences and critics alike who didn't think she had it in her. In her personal life she was an extremely funny woman and had learned comedy while a teenager at the Mack Sennett Studios. Twentieth Century changed her career for the better and while still on loan-out to Columbia from her home studio Paramount, she was given another opportunity at a comedy in this film.

1934 was also a good year for May Robson. She had just starred in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933) for which she had earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. In that film she plays Apple Annie, a down and out apple seller who is helped by gangsters to appear as a grand lady to fool her daughter whom she hasn't seen in years. Although she lost out to Katharine Hepburn for Morning Glory (1933), Columbia Studios liked Robson and the character enough to stretch it out into another film, this time, instead of being Apple Annie, she was called Patsy Patterson.

Carole Lombard and Roger Pryor

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Lady With Red Hair

(1940)

A messy divorce leaves Mrs. Leslie Carter shunned by Chicago society for being an adulteress and forbidden from having custody of her son. She's determined to return to her hometown in a few years as a success and with enough money to fight to get her son back. In order to realize her plans, she heads to New York with ambitions of being a great actress. Despite having no stage training, producer David Belasco becomes attracted to her and becomes intent on making her a star, as well as winning her heart.

Based on the life of nineteenth century actress Mrs. Leslie Carter, this American historical drama was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starsMiriam Hopkins, Claude Rains and Richard Ainley.

Miriam Hopkins played the lead role in Becky Sharp (1935), in which the real Mrs. Leslie Carter had an uncredited role. Louis Payne, the husband of Mrs. Leslie Carter in real life, coached Richard Ainley, who was playing him in the movie.

Hopkins had a well-publicized feud with Bette Davis. Hopkins and Davis co-starred in The Old Maid (1939) and Old Acquaintance (1943). Hopkins believed that Davis was having an affair with her husband Anatole Litvak. Davis resented her jealousy and said that she had enjoyed physically shaking Hopkins in a scene in Old Acquaintance. Press photos featured the two divas in a boxing ring, gloves up, with the director Vincent Sherman between them like a referee. In later interviews, Davis described Hopkins as a "terribly good actress", but also "terribly jealous".

Alexis Smith made her screen debut in a small role.

Miriam Hopkins

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Lady Be Good

(1941)

Songwriters Dixie Donegan and Eddie Crane are still in love after their divorce. Dixie's friend, Marilyn Marsh, tries to convince them to marry again, but it isn't that easy.

Made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and produced by Arthur Freed, this American musical was directed by Norman Z. McLeod and stars Eleanor Powell, Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Lionel Barrymore, and Red Skelton. It was the first of several films Powell made with Skelton. Powell received top billing, but Sothern and Young are the main stars.

Despite her top-billing, not only is Eleanor Powell's role quite minor, but she only dances twice in the entire film - the first of which doesn't come until a full 74 minutes into the picture!

Ann Sothern and Robert Young previously worked together on two other films: Dangerous Number (1937) and Maisie (1939).

Original director Busby Berkeley was replaced during production by Norman Z. McLeod. Berkeley was kept on to direct the musical numbers.

Busby Berkeley utilized a second camera in filming Eleanor Powell's epic dance routine to Fascinatin' Rhythm which tracked the intricate backstage maneuvering by MGM's crew as they detached piece after piece of the mammoth set to enable the camera to capture Berkeley's intricate staging in one uninterrupted take. This behind-the-scenes footage, which illustrates the inner workings of a major Hollywood studio, is included in the documentary That's Entertainment! III (1994).

For Eleanor Powell's dance rendition of the song Oh, Lady Be Good, MGM auditioned several dogs, but none were able to do the required tricks. Finally, Powell bought a dog from a prop man and trained it herself for several weeks so that the dance could be done as she envisioned it.

Originally, any song that appeared in a film was eligible for the Best Song Academy Award. However, Jerome Kern voiced his disapproval when he and Oscar Hammerstein II won for The Last Time I Saw Paris, a song the duo wrote not for this film, but in heartfelt response to the news that the Nazis occupied the beloved European capital. It wasn't until several months after its publication that producer Arthur Freed heard the tune and purchased the rights for Lady Be Good. Kern would be influential in the Academy's ruling that only original songs composed expressly for a film would be eligible for the Best Song Oscar.