Barbara Stanwyck

[Ray]

Barbara stayed at Columbia for her next film, she needn't have bothered, Shopworn was a second rate programmer that brought little or no credit to anyone involved in it.

It is a very contrived soap opera about a smalltown waitress who eventually and unbelievably, finds fame as an actress.

She is romanced by a medical student, the uncharismatic Regis Toomey, who even at 30 years old looked middle aged, he certainly wasn't leading man material and it wasn't long before he became a busy character actor. The medical student becomes a surgeon, but before the inevitable happy ending Barbara has to put up with his jealous, possessive mother, played by Clara Blandick, (Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz).

I rarely watch this dreary sudser, but her next film was definitely a step up in the right direction.

[theuofc]

Hi, Ray,

You undoutedby have this, but just in case...Barbara in Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars (1936), dir. John Ford, four years down the road from Shopworn and imo, a much better film.

All best,

Barbara

[didi-5]

Re: 'Shopworn'. I saw this at the cinema a few years ago and rather enjoyed it, although Regis Toomey was not that effective, and yes, the storyline was just the wrong side of silly!

I haven't yet seen 'The Plough and the Stars'. I believe most of the cast aside from Barbara were genuinely Irish, which is a plus when you're adapting such an iconic play from the Emerald Isle. Would those who have seen it recommend it? How does it compare to, say, 1930's 'Juno and the Paycock'?

[Ray]

Hi, Ray,

You undoutedby have this, but just in case...Barbara in Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars (1936), dir. John Ford, four years down the road from Shopworn and imo, a much better film.

All best,

Barbara

Hi Barbara, thanks for that, I have to admit that I dislike both the film, and Barbara's performance. As much as I love her, I don't like everything that she did. In fact I would agree with the critic who described her in this as, " A wooden portrayal of a lugubrious character." After all the wonderful roles that she did in the early 30's, she seemed to go through a very bad patch, with some terribly choices of one dimensional characters. It is even more bewildering considering that she was freelancing, and could pick and choose. There are a few more stinkers before she really hit her stride in the late '30's.

Incidentally, this is my first time online in nearly three weeks. I have had a very bad kidney infection which has left me so weak that I haven't even had the energy to switch on my lap top. I have just had the all clear from my doctor that the infection has gone, but it takes me all my time to walk from one room to another. I have gone from 11 stone to 9 stone 10 in just over two weeks. I haven't rested and slept so much since I retired, and there will certainly be no gym or running for at least a month.

Meanwhile, I will carry on reviewing all the films, in order, when I get some of my energy back.

[Nimuae]

Poor you! Kidney infections are desperatley painful - glad that you are on your way to recovery.

[Ray]

Poor you! Kidney infections are desperatley painful - glad that you are on your way to recovery.

Thank you so much!

I did ask my doctor whether he thought that I had been overdoing it at the gym. He said no, and in fact if I hadn't been so fit I would probably be in hospital on a drip.

Anyway, I really can't complain, it is only my third serious illness in nearly 75 years, and only the second time in my life that I have had to ask the doctor to visit me. I must say that I could not have had more care and attention than if I had been a private patient. Perhaps they looked at my record and noticed that I only visit them once a year for my general annual check up.

Meanwhile, I am quite enjoying this enforced rest now that I am on the mend, and it will certainly give me a chance to catch up on the pile of DVDs which I haven't even opened yet.

[Ray]

Barbara was really back on form with her next film, So Big (1932). The story begins when Selina Peake, a young girl in an exclusive school is left penniless by her gambler father's death.

She becomes a school teacher to the children of Dutch farmers in Illinois, eventually marrying a farmer and having a son, who she refers to as "So Big".

Once the boy has grown up she wants him to become an architect, but he is more interested in making fast money selling stocks and bonds.. He meets a young artist, Dallas O'Mara, Bette Davis, who doesn't have much respect for his get rich quick schemes.

Meanwhile, another of Selina's pupils, Roelf, George Brent, has become a famous artist, he meets Selina's son and his girl friend, and they decide to pay her a visit.

Selina is proud of Roelf's achievements, and sense of value's, and is convinced that he and Dallas will convince "So Big" to become the architect that she knows he can be.

Barbara received rave reviews for her performance, described as "exquisite" by the New York Mirror, and the New York Telegraph said that "she offered a characterization worthy of enrollment in the cinematic Hall of Fame."

Still only 25 years old, this was the second time that she aged on screen, and very convincing she was too. Bette Davis, just nine months younger, made quite an impression as Barbara's son's girl friend. Sadly, although they are seen here in publicity stills, they never exchanged a word onscreen. This was the second of five films in which Barbara was directed by William Wellman, and 80 years on it stands up very well.

[theuofc]

Barbara was really back on form with her next film, So Big (1932). The story begins when Selina Peake, a young girl in an exclusive school is left penniless by her gambler father's death.....

Hello, Ray,

It's good to see you. You've been gone for a while and I feared you might have had a relapse of the kidney infection. Hope all is okay.

Great pics of SO BIG.

Barbara

[Ray]

Hello, Ray,

It's good to see you. You've been gone for a while and I feared you might have had a relapse of the kidney infection. Hope all is okay.

Great pics of SO BIG.

Barbara

Hi Barbara,

I did explain in the "Have a Chat" thread that after a month of X Rays and blood tests my doctor decided to send me to the hospital. There I was told that I had an absess on my liver, and they would operate the following day. Unbelievably, when I went for a scan the next day the doctor told me that thanks to the antibiotics they had given me, the absess had shrunk by half, and that they would delay surgery to see what happened next. Within 48 hours it had shrunk again, and after only four days they discharged me from the hospital. For the next two weeks I had daily home visits from the district nurse who pumped me full of more antibiotics. That is finished now, and I have just one more week of Penicillin tablets before my final Ultra Scan and hopefully clean bill of health. My doctor has told me that my healthy life style has helped me recover so quickly, but I just feel incredibly lucky, and the treatment and care that I have received has been quite wonderul. I could not have had better care if I had been a private patient.

It is good to be back, and I hope to carry on doing justice to this great thread that you started.

[Mr Sloane]

Hi Barbara,

I did explain in the "Have a Chat" thread that after a month of X Rays and blood tests my doctor decided to send me to the hospital. There I was told that I had an absess on my liver, and they would operate the following day. Unbelievably, when I went for a scan the next day the doctor told me that thanks to the antibiotics they had given me, the absess had shrunk by half, and that they would delay surgery to see what happened next. Within 48 hours it had shrunk again, and after only four days they discharged me from the hospital. For the next two weeks I had daily home visits from the district nurse who pumped me full of more antibiotics. That is finished now, and I have just one more week of Penicillin tablets before my final Ultra Scan and hopefully clean bill of health. My doctor has told me that my healthy life style has helped me recover so quickly, but I just feel incredibly lucky, and the treatment and care that I have received has been quite wonderul. I could not have had better care if I had been a private patient.

It is good to be back, and I hope to carry on doing justice to this great thread that you started.

Glad to hear you are on the mend, Ray.

[Ray]

Glad to hear you are on the mend, Ray.

Thanks Kevin, I feel great, now all I have to do is get back to the gym and regain the one and a half stone that I have lost in the past two months.

[Ray]

After the success of Night Nurse and So Big, Warner's were obviously keen to continue the Wellman/Stanwyck teaming, but The Purchase Price wasn't as successful as their previous two films.

Barbara plays a tough torch singer in Manhattan who runs off to North Dakota as a mail order bride to farmer George Brent, to get away from her bootlegger boyfriend, Lyle Talbot. The sophisticated city girl and the inarticulate farmer clash right from their wedding night, and the situation is not helped when the ex boy friend tracks her down.

There are some exciting scenes in the film, especially the climatic fire in the fields, and Barbara sings for the first time on screen in the early part of the film, a number called, "Take Me Away."

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

GREAT NEWS Ray!! Hang in there!!

[Ray]

GREAT NEWS Ray!! Hang in there!!

Thanks John, I start my "back to a healthy lifestyle" tomorrow morning. I am off swimming at 9am!

[theuofc]

Hi Barbara,

I did explain in the "Have a Chat" thread that after a month of X Rays and blood tests my doctor decided to send me to the hospital. There I was told that I had an absess on my liver, and they would operate the following day. Unbelievably, when I went for a scan the next day the doctor told me that thanks to the antibiotics they had given me, the absess had shrunk by half, and that they would delay surgery to see what happened next. Within 48 hours it had shrunk again, and after only four days they discharged me from the hospital. For the next two weeks I had daily home visits from the district nurse who pumped me full of more antibiotics. That is finished now, and I have just one more week of Penicillin tablets before my final Ultra Scan and hopefully clean bill of health. My doctor has told me that my healthy life style has helped me recover so quickly, but I just feel incredibly lucky, and the treatment and care that I have received has been quite wonderul. I could not have had better care if I had been a private patient.

It is good to be back, and I hope to carry on doing justice to this great thread that you started.

Hi, Ray,

I can see that you've been through Hell and back, but if anyone can survive that experience, it's you!

You've made the Stanwyck thread an amazing source of information and terrific, rare photos of her. She lives on because of tributes like this. I may have started it, but you built and nurtured it into something very special. Bravo to that!

I'm really glad you're back swimming, and on to the next Marathon!

Barbara

[Ray]

Hi, Ray,

I can see that you've been through Hell and back, but if anyone can survive that experience, it's you!

You've made the Stanwyck thread an amazing source of information and terrific, rare photos of her. She lives on because of tributes like this. I may have started it, but you built and nurtured it into something very special. Bravo to that!

I'm really glad you're back swimming, and on to the next Marathon!

Barbara

Thanks Barbara, I have a feeling that this two month enforced rest may have been good for me, and hopefully I can get back to being fitter than ever.

I just love a challenge!

[Ray]

In 1933 Barbara was back with Frank Capra at Columbia in what is considered her only "art" film, The Bitter Tea of General Yen. This had the dubious distinction of being the first film to open at Radio City Music Hall on January 11th 1933, and being taken off after just eight days.

The public did not care for this rather offbeat story about an American missionary who travels to China to marry another missionary. Before she has a chance to get married she is kidnapped by General Yen (Nils Aster), and taken to his luxurious palace. At first she detests him, but the charismatic General soon has her under his spell. When she confesses her love for him he realises the pain this will eventually cause her, and he decides to make the ultimate sacrifice by drinking a cup of poisoned tea.

In an interview that she did with John Kobal on Movie-Go-Round in 1965, Barbara said that the Women's clubs in the USA did not take kindly to the idea of a white woman having a romance with an Oriental, adding that she thought, "Mr Capra did it with great taste."

In his autobiography, Capra said that the film lost money because it was banned in Great Britain and the British Comonwealth. In fact it was shown after there had been a few cuts.

This is really Nils Aster's film, he steals every scene that he is in.

For myself, I much prefer Barbara's performance in Capra's The Miracle Woman.

[Ray]

Barbara's next film was great fun, she was back at Warners for Ladies They Talk About, and there was never a dull moment in this 67 minute long film. It originally ran for 90 minutes, and considering some of the daring scenes that were left in, I can just imagine what must have been in the 23 minutes that were cut.

She plays a tough gangster moll who dons a blonde wig to act as a decoy while her gangster friends rob a bank. It all goes wrong and she and the gang are arrested, and not even her district attourney boy friend can save her from jail. The fun really begins when she is inside, she befriends a wise cracking girl with a great singing voice, it is Lilian Roth who was portrayed so unforgettably by Susan Hayward in I'll Cry Tomorrow.
She gives a great rendition of If I Could Be With You, sad to realise how tragically her life would turn out, although she did make a come back in the 1950's.

It was amazing what they got away with in the films of the early '30's, the two girls come across a very butch, cigar smoking inmate, and Lilian says, "Watch her, she likes to wrestle."

There is a prison break during the film, and Barbara even goes after her boy friend with a gun, understandable really considering it is the uncharismatic Preston Foster.

There is great support from Ruth Donnelly, and especially Maude Eburne, who steals every scene she is in.

[Ray]

Her next Warner film was even more fun, the advertising for Baby Face read, "She climbed the ladder of love, man by man." This just about sums up her character who starts off working in her hated father's speakeasy, and heads for New York when he is killed. She sets her sights on an imposing looking bank, and after chatting up a chubby lad on reception, she starts at the bottom as a filing clerk. She then uses a smitten office boy ( a very young John Wayne) to get her a position as secretary to an important executive, who she then dumps for the President of the Bank. When her actions result in a murder and suicide she is transferred to the Paris branch of the bank where she meets and eventually marries the new president (George Brent).

When he gets into financial difficulties she leaves, taking money, jewels, and an expensive wardrobe, but that isn't the end, and I won't spoil the story for anyone who hopefully will see it one day.

The film was based on an original story by Darryl Zanuck under the pseudonym Mark Canfield. lthough this was a pre code film, there were cuts, and Zanuck left Warners in protest. He soon formed 20th Century productions, and later merged with the Fox Corporation.

Incredibly, the uncut version was discovered over 70 years later, and I believe was shown at The London Film Festival in 2006. It can now be seen in a boxed collection called Forbidden Hollywood.

[theuofc]

In 1933 Barbara was back with Frank Capra at Columbia in what is considered her only "art" film, The Bitter Tea of General Yen. This had the dubious distinction of being the first film to open at Radio City Music Hall on January 11th 1933, and being taken off after just eight days.

The public did not care for this rather offbeat story about an American missionary who travels to China to marry another missionary. Before she has a chance to get married she is kidnapped by General Yen (Nils Aster), and taken to his luxurious palace. At first she detests him, but the charismatic General soon has her under his spell. When she confesses her love for him he realises the pain this will eventually cause her, and he decides to make the ultimate sacrifice by drinking a cup of poisoned tea.

In an interview that she did with John Kobal on Movie-Go-Round in 1965, Barbara said that the Women's clubs in the USA did not take kindly to the idea of a white woman having a romance with an Oriental, adding that she thought, "Mr Capra did it with great taste."

In his autobiography, Capra said that the film lost money because it was banned in Great Britain and the British Comonwealth. In fact it was shown after there had been a few cuts.

This is really Nils Aster's film, he steals every scene that he is in.

For myself, I much prefer Barbara's performance in Capra's The Miracle Woman.

Hi, Ray,

It really is Nils Aster's film as you say. Much agree. And Barbara was right in pointing out that women's clubs and a good part of America at the time would not find a film in which a white woman falls in love with an Asian man acceptable (the reverse was more tolerable.). And not just the US but the UK and others.

I had a chance to see the film when TCM-US aired it along with some rare Barbara films. It was done with sensitivity and also beautifully photographed.

Also agree that Barbara's day in the sun at that time was The Miracle Woman. Memorable! ditto David Manners.

Barbara