The · Stuff · That · Dreams · Are · Made · Of

Best Performance: Anna Novak, Black Fury

Karen Morley was such an underused actress. She was very good. Perhaps not quite as good as some other actresses of the time, and perhaps not as glamorous, but she deserved much better treatment than she recieved in Hollywood. Girlfriends, mob molls, tiny supporting roles where she didn't get the chance to really shine fill her career. She always played second fiddle (or sometimes thrid or fourth fiddle) to actresses like Greer Garson (in Pride and Prejudice) and Greta Garbo (in Mata Hari and Inspiration).

When she did get the chance to play the female lead, it was in films that didn't do much business. She sparkled opposite Franchot Tone and Walter Huston in Gabriel Over the White House. She did her best work as the female lead in Black Fury opposite Paul Muni. But even the female lead in that film was a small role. She was missing for the entire middle part of the film.

It's most likely her extremely leftist political views that got her little love in Hollywood. Even in the 1930s, long before communism was a huge issue in Hollywood, it was quite clear where Morley's sympathy's lied, especially when you look at some of the films on her resume. Gabriel Over the White House is practically a love letter to the destruction of democracy, a film where the President of the United states recieves some divine intervention and has the religious epiphany that it's a great idea to disband the Cabinet, and pretty much all of the government. Our Daily Bread and Black Fury are subtler films than Gabriel Over the White House, but looking at them it's easy to see why Morley was summoned by the House of Un-American Activities in the 1940s. Her career came practically to a standstill after the 1930s because of it.

Still, Morley is an actress who's always a joy to watch. She's charming onscreen, engaging in a way that a lot of actresses weren't, because she was so unglamorous. She seemed more like regular Joe movie goer than a bona fide movie star. She has an appeal that completely attainable.

Cast: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Wallace Ford, Richard Gallagher
Director: Clarence Brown

Yep, there's even more kept woman drama on this list! Hey, it was a staple of pre-code film. In the 1930s, Joan Crawford played mostly shopgirls and poor girls who made good by falling in love with a rich guy. Possessed is the best of those films. She's so amazing with Clark Gable. The two have undeniable chemistry, and they're scenes together sparkle with sexiness.

The kept woman issue was never handled quite as seriously as it was here. Films never really took a stance on the topic. But Clarence Brown's film looks at how the situation can begin to weat psychologically on the people involved. Sure, the girl's got a a great place to stay with lots of nice things without having to do anything, but she also lived with the knowledge that people talk about her because of what she is. And sure, the guy's got a pretty little number he can call on anytime he wants, but he has to deal with not only people talking the woman he might love, but also wondering if she really loves him back. And because it handles the issue so seriously, the romance is so much more rewarding.

I am completely prepared to update for the past week I've missed. I was on a heavy combination of pain killers and muscle relaxers, so nothing I was writing was making much sense.

But, there is, as always, a problem. I was planning on doing the massive update last night. So I got all the pictures together in photoshop and saved. I didn't get a chance to do it last night, but I have the pictures for Monday-Saturday. But there was, yet again, photoshop trouble when I got on the computer this morning. I decided I was finally done with dealing with that crap, so I uninstalled photoshop and installed GIMP. But GIMP is a pain in the ass, I can't do anything I want to with it.

So I will update today for Monday-Saturday, but I won't have today's. I'm going to look for another program on my computer I can do this pictures with and update again as soon as I can.

I do have good news on this front, though. One of my friends is possible giving me his computer. (Thanks, Pat!) And while it's not much better than my computer, I figure I can wipe the hard drive and pretty much use it for just photoshop and maybe a few other programs. So there is hope on the horizon.

Best Performance: Alicia Huberman, Notorious

Ingrid Bergman would have excelled in the silent era. As good as she was at delivering lines, the greatness of her performances was always in her face. Her face held the true meaning of the words she was saying, and even if you weren't listening to the movie, you could tell what she was saying, by the twitch of her lips, or the wink of an eye. And it was never overstated. Bergman was one of the most subtle actresses ever to grace the screen.

She had a very soft, calm presence. Even when her character was sad, she was still able to light up the room, she was so luminous. And she was a real woman. Soft curves, not stick thin. And she never showed off her body as though it was more important than the rest of her. It was almost like she didn't fit right in Hollywood. She was so angelic and otherworldly. It felt as though Bergman was too serene and perfect to fit in with the wild, hectic atmosphere of the film-making world.

Bergman was so lovely that she could work with pretty much anyone, and have excellent chemistry with them. I can't think of a single one of her leading men that she didn't have some chemistry with. Even when some of her leading men were so different, she was able to sparkle with them. Cary Grant in Notorious and Indiscreet. Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls and Saratoga Trunk. Robert Montgomery and George Sanders in Rage In Heaven. Leslie Howard in Intermezzo: A Love Story. It didn't matter who the man was. They always looked like they truly loved her.

This film always amazes me with it's understatedness and simplicity. Whenever it's on, I'm always enthralled by it, whether I had been planning on watching it or not. The simplicity reminds me of another Wyler film, the excellent These Three. Both films tackle rather important topics, but express them through their characters, and so the message comes across as very subtle.  It's a movie that's held together by its acting. It's not a show-y movie, it's purely an actors film.

It has what I believe is Bette Davis' best performance. She's able to be so manipulative, nasty and forceful. She's almost frightening, yet she's still able to show the (somewhat misguided) affection she had for her daughter. The performance is, at times, fun, and at times, frightening and intense.

She's surrounded by some excellent actors. Teresa Wright is so good as her sweet daughter. Her transformation from naive little girl to understanding woman is remarkable. Herbert Marshall, one of my favorite actors, is incredible in his role as Regina's rundown husband. He has health problems, but his performance more than suggests that a lot of his state is caused by Regina's behavior.

This one is a real gem. It's not flashy, but it's so far from boring it's impossible not to be sucked into it.

Best Performance: Ellie May Adams, Primrose Path

Ginger Rogers is my absolute favorite actress ever. Not only was she very beautiful, but she could pretty much do anything on the screen that you could imagine. She could sing, she could dance, she could do comedy, she could do drama. She was amazing.

She didn't have a trained voice, like Jeanette MacDonald, but her voice was still very strong. She always sounded like she was having such a good time singing the songs. She gave them a certain exuberance. She was also amazing at reacting to songs. One of the best things about Fred and Ginger movies is the way Ginger looks when Fred is singing to her.

She was a great dancer. She didn't get a lot of chances the dance on her own when she was making films with Fred, but whether it was in a rare solo performance, or dancing with Fred, she moved with so much grace. Fred may have been the more skilled dancer, but Ginger gave the pairing something irreplaceable, something you can see is missing with all of Fred's other partners, no matter how great they are.

And she had enormous acting talent and range. She's probably best known for comedies. She had some of the best comedic timing in movies. Her deadpan deliveryin films like Bachelor Mother and Star of Midnight are priceless and unforgettable.

But people often forget how good she was at drama, so good that she won an Oscar for her performance in Kitty Foyle. (Granted, the award probably should have been for Primrose Path). She amount of dramas she made was considerable smaller that her list of comedies, but Ginger always excelled in the more somber pictures, always managing to make me cry like a baby.