The court scholar serving Hermann of Thuringia.

The court scholar serving Hermann of Thuringia.
The scholar

2013/01/02

A few Barbara Stanwyck films

Taped and just finished watching Sorry, Wrong NumberThe Mad Miss Manton and  Breakfast for Two. And I learned by watching the TCM commentary that  Double Indemnity and  Stella Dallas are big, acclaimed films of hers, neither of which I've seen. Sorry is an interesting film as the main characters are not at all sympathetic until the very end, when it's too late. Mad is interesting as Stanwyck's character heads up a sort of women's posse that runs around solving crimes. In that and Breakfast, an attempt at a madcap romantic comedy of the type that Katherine Hepburn did in Bringing Up Baby, I'm sorry to say that Stanwyck is completely unconvincing as a woman in love. The men in these films say that they love her, but their statements fall completely flat. Maybe that has something to do with the rumors that Stanwyck was a lesbian. As she had an affair with Robert Wagner that no one was aware of at the time (They broke it off because of the age difference), perhaps she was bisexual. In any event, there's a great deal to admire about her as an actor. And nah, I checked to see if anyone has ever collected her movies together into one set and no one has. The next TCM classic actor film-fest is for Loretta Young. Not sure if I've ever seen her in anything.

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