Wife vs. Secretary or Harlow vs. Loy

What a pleasure it was to see Wife vs. Secretary (1936) on my DVR.  Once again, THANK YOU to Turner Classic Movies for a great March full of Jean Harlow (1911 - 1937) movies, during Jean's 100th birthday month.

I must admit, up until this month, I had only seen her in the two Laurel and Hardy films she made in 1929, Double Whoopee and Bacon Grabbers.  She was also in City Lights (1931) the Chaplin classic, but was only an extra so I didn't notice her.

We started out by watching Bombshell (1933), an early starring feature with a very platinum blonde Harlow.  I believe it was typical of some early talkies to have too much dialog in a movie populated by a cast of former stage actors who project all the way to the back row of the theater.  Someone needed to tell them that the microphone was closer.  As a result, the movie is difficult to watch.  The talking is too fast, and combined with the colloquial way of speaking in the thirties, I couldn't easily follow the story.  To really understand this movie would take three viewings.

Then we watched Reckless (1935).  I figured two more years of sound experience, plus William Powell (1892 - 1984) would make this a better experience.  Harlow and Powell were lovers and I hoped there would be on screen chemistry.  It was another disappointment.  The script was beneath them both, and it became boring, but Harlow was beautiful and quite accomplished for only 24 years old.

We struck cinematic gold with Wife vs. Secretary.  The pairing of good friends Myrna Loy (1905 - 1993) and Jean Harlow (now with toned down, more natural blonde color), was perfect.  Clark Gable (1901 - 1960) got top billing because he was the King of the Movies, but his part could have been played by any leading man of the time.  All eyes were on Harlow and Loy.

In a Bit Part, we have James Stewart (1908 - 1997) as Harlow's boyfriend.  This was only Stewart's fifth film, but you could see his bright future in every scene he had.

I can't say enough about this film.  The story took you through all the emotions of the head of a publishing empire and his desire to succeed, his secretary who knows her help is needed by him, and his wife who only wants to give her love as he gives his to her.  Plus, the frustration of Harlow's boyfriend who thinks he may be losing her.  The fact is, everybody loves everybody else, but is Harlow just too much of a temptation for Gable?

There is no sex, because this was after the Hays Code.  Loy and Gable even have separate bedrooms.  But listen closely and you can hear the innuendos.  These were all sexy stars and they could deliver the message in body language plus a few words.

I was going to commit Wife vs. Secretary to VHS tape, but I think I'll order the DVD set instead.  (I really need to get that home theater PC I've been thinking about!)  Harlow was a star for a very short time.  I wonder what her future would have brought.  Would it have been filled with success in a long life like Bette Davis, or end in tragedy like Marilyn Monroe?  Kidney disease took Jean Harlow at just age 26, so we'll never know.

The Search for Bit Players

I had some doubts when I started this project that I may run out of subjects after a time.  Well, this is my 65th post and I haven't missed a single day except Independence Day.  That was my choice, not a lack of someone to write about.

I have now realized that my choice of subjects is partly determined by the definition of Bit Player, and since this is my blog and I can do whatever I want with it, that definition will be considered infinitely flexible.

One needs only to look at almost ANY film made in the 1930's through the 1950's to find a wealth of bit actors and actresses.  Many later stars were cutting their teeth in bit parts at that time, so they can be considered bit players.  Case in point, After the Thin Man from 1936.  This is my favorite from the Thin Man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy.

James Stewart had a supporting role in this film, his eleventh movie role.  You may consider it a bit part, since he hadn't had any starring roles yet, and it was two years before You Can't Take it with You, and three years before Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, arguably his first starring role.

How about some lesser known actors and actresses?  Penny Singleton and Paul Fix were in this movie.  George Zucco played Dr. Kammer, but he was in 96 other movies and played Prof. Moriarity in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes from 1939, which introduced the team of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  Also one of my favorites.

The really fun part of this movie, apart from the fact that Nick Charles is plastered through the entire film, is the cast of Nick's friends.  Every two-bit gangster character actor was seen.  Names like Fingers and Willie the Weeper were played by people who seemed destined to play only in 1930's detective movies.

Henry the butler was played by Tom Ricketts (1853 to 1939).  Can you image being alive during the Civil War?  Ricketts made 203 movies from 1908 until the year he died, when he appeared in Son of Frankenstein.  He worked with everybody!  In the 1930's he was in Top Hat, The Invisible Man and two others with Claude Rains, plus Show Boat, Gold Diggers of 1937, A Star is Born, and The Prince and the Pauper.

Sorry I spent so much time on poor Tom Ricketts, but I get carried away.  I am out of time for today, so let's see what tomorrow brings.

Slowly I Turned...

I had a good time yesterday, watching Niagara from 1953 with Marilyn Monroe.  I think Niagara and Bus Stop (1956) are my favorite Monroe flicks.  Of course, Some Like it Hot (1959) is great, but these two films allow her to act.

Niagara has an almost Hitchcockian (Is that a word?) feel to it.  Pretty good suspense and an ending that makes you think Polly Cutler (played by Jean Peters) may not make it.  The helicopter from the Korean War era was neat!  I will try not to give away too much, in the off chance that a reader may not have seen the film.

1950's special effects aren't the greatest, but the lighting, the framing of the shots, and the way background shots of the falls and the surrounding area are incorporated make up for it.  Marilyn herself could suspend reality.  Just watch her walking away from the camera!  And after she gets out of the shower, her lipstick is perfect!

Now, the important stuff.  A movie this good could not have been made without a great supporting cast.  Let's start with Minerva Urecal.  She played the boarding house landlady who gets upset by all the phone calls looking for a bus station.  Ms. Urecal has 266 acting roles to her credit on IMDb.  She was born in 1894, started acting in films in 1933, and her last gig was on "Petticoat Junction" in 1966, the year she died.

She was in three W. C. Fields movies, had a small part in 1939's Destry Rides Again, worked with James Stewart again in Harvey and The Jackpot in 1950, and again in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation in 1962.  She made a lot of mysteries and westerns in the 30's, 40's and early 50's, until she started working on TV.

1957 to 1960 seemed to be her best TV years where she shows up as Jim Bowie's mother, stars as the title character in "Tugboat Annie", and has a regular spot on "Peter Gunn."  I think Turner Classic Movies show spotlight Minerva Urecal!

Other bit parts of note; we see taxi drivers played by Harry Carey, Jr. and Arch Johnson.  Carey started working in 1946 and is still active.  Johnson's career has 132 credits from 1953 (Niagara was his first film) to 1990.  And don't forget the boatman played by Will Wright, and Don Wilson as Mr. Kettering in his last movie role.

If you haven't seen Niagara, or if it has been a while, take a look at it soon.  A great movie.  (And I apologize for the Three Stooges title!!!)