Blossoms in the Dust (1941)

Edna (Greer Garson) and her adoptive sister Charlotte (Marsha Hunt) are happily set to be married into the upper crust of Wisconsin society. However, their destinies are changed when Edna breaks off her engagement to marry Texan Sam Gladney (Walter Pidgeon) an associate of her father’s who brashly declares he will marry her. When Sam returns a year later for Edna, after opening up his flourmill, Mr. and Mrs. Keats (Kathleen Howard and George Lessey), Charlotte's future in-laws, tell the Kahlys (Fay Holden and Samuel Hinds) that their son Allan (William Henry) cannot marry her because she was a "nameless" foundling. Charlotte is devastated by the news and kills herself.

Two years later, Edna, who has moved to Texas and married Sam, gives birth to a boy and is told that she can have no more children. On Christmas Day, a few years later, tragedy strikes when their son is killed in an accident. Edna hides her grief by becoming a society hostess until Sam and Dr. Max Bresler (Felix Bressart), who attended her at Sammy's birth, try to get her interested in caring for other children. Though reticent at first, she and Sam set up a day nursery for working mothers, which they finance from their own fortune until Sam loses his mill due to the decline of wheat prices.

Selling everything they own, they move to Fort Worth where Sam works as a mill hand while trying to develop a new wheat process. On the day that Edna takes his new process to be notarized, she sees some children in a courtroom and discovers that they are orphans, tagged like cattle, and rejected by prospective adoptive parents because they are illegitimate. She brings two children home; one of them is named Tony who is very ill. With very little money and a lot of help from her friends Zeke and Cleo (Clinton Rosemond and Theresa Harris), she opens a storefront orphanage called the Texas Children's Home and Aid Society and arranges for adoptions for her charges, making certain parents and children are well suited for each other. However, the city councilmen close the home for zoning violations. Determined to keep up the fight, Edna must do so without Sam who passes away. 

She travels throughout Texas, collecting funds until she is able to open a large new home. As the years pass, Edna finds good homes for many children, but realizes that she has additional work to do when she receives a donation from a despondent young woman who is in the same predicament as her sister Charlotte was. Determined to change the law that brands children "illegitimate" and have it removed from birth certificates she fights and wins her battle to have a bill passed in the Texas legislature. But once one battle is over she must fight another, this time she fights for Tony who is wanted by a husband and wife who recently lost their only child. Wanting Tony for herself, Edna must stop and think what’s best for the child she loves so much and eventually gives him away to a loving home where he can have all the attention from a mother and a father.

A story based on the real life of Edna Gladney, Blossoms in the Dust is a real heartwrencher. In my opinion, Greer Garson was the best at eliciting sympathy…and tears. She was a phenomenal actress as TCM will prove tonight by showing the five movies that garnered her the distinction of being the only actress besides Bette Davis to be nominated five times in a row for Best Actress! If you spend the evening with her, then you will also get a healthy dose of Walter Pidgeon, a dynamic and talented player in his own right.

Oscar trivia:

Greer Garson was nominated seven times in her career and holds the distinction of being nominated five times in a row, a distinction she share with Bette Davis. She was nominated for Best actress for her roles in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Blossoms in the Dust, Mrs. Miniver, Madame Curie, Mrs. Parkington, The Valley of Decision, and Sunrise at Campobello. She won her only Oscar for Mrs. Miniver.


Walter Pidgeon garnered two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for his roles in Mrs. Miniver and Madame Curie.

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Mrs. Kay Miniver (Greer Garson) and her husband Clem (Walter Pidgeon) live a comfortable life with their three children in a village outside London. As World War II looms, the Minivers and people of the village can still afford to squabble over mundane issues. Like when Mr. Ballard (Henry Travers) enters his beautiful rose- the “Mrs. Miniver” into the village flower show causing the village to be divided by those who believe the working class man has a right to give Lady Beldon a little competition and those who think it outrageous for Mr. Ballard to challenge the current social status by entering the rose to compete with the the Beldon rose. Too, there is time for a relationship to grow between Vin (Richard Ney), the Miniver’s oldest son who is down from university and Carol Beldon (Teresa Wright), granddaughter of Lady Beldon (Dame May Whitty) from nearby Beldon Hall. Despite initial disagreements over their ideals when it comes to class restrictions, they fall in love and eventually marry, knowing they may only have a short time to love one another as the war moves closer and closer to home.

When the war does come, we find a village united with the Miniver’s doing their part. Clem helps in the Dunkirk evacuation, Vin becomes a fighter pilot, and Kay deals with a wounded and hostile German officer who is in enemy territory. All the while they must suffer through air raids, bombings, and the ever increasing knowledge that they may all not make it out of this battle alive.
After the flower show competition where Mr Ballard’s rose wins, Kay and Carol are slowly making their way back when an air attack begins. Thinking it prudent to stop the car, Kay reassures Carol that all will be well however, Carol is wounded by gunfire from a German plane. When she dies a few minutes after they reach home, Kay is devastated. Here the whole focus has been on Vin getting safely back home from a dangerous mission and Carol becomes the casualty.

Once Vin returns home, the village gathers in the remains of their local church where the vicar (Henry Wilcoxon), affirms their determination in a powerful sermon:

"We in this quiet corner of England have suffered the loss of friends very dear to us, some close to this church. George West, choirboy. James Ballard, stationmaster and bellringer, and the proud winner only an hour before his death of the Beldon Cup for his beautiful Miniver Rose. And our hearts go out in sympathy to the two families who share the cruel loss of a young girl who was married at this altar only two weeks ago.
"The homes of many of us have been destroyed, and the lives of young and old have been taken. There's scarcely a household that hasn't been struck to the heart.
"And why? Surely you must have asked yourselves this question? Why in all conscience should these be the ones to suffer? Children, old people, a young girl at the height of her loveliness? Why these? Are these our soldiers? Are these our fighters? Why should they be sacrificed?
"I shall tell you why. Because this is not only a war of soldiers in uniform. It is the war of the people, of all the people. And it must be fought not only on the battlefield but in the cities and in the villages, in the factories and on the farms, in the home and in the heart of every man, woman and child who loves freedom.
"Well, we have buried our dead, but we shall not forget them. Instead they will inspire us with an unbreakable determination to free ourselves, and those who come after us, from the tyranny and terror that threaten to strike us down.
"This is the People's War! It is our war! We are the fighters! Fight it then! Fight it with all that is in us! And may God defend the right."

Mrs. Miniver is a an emotionally moving film with unexpected results. I was unnerved at how wonderfully well Garson and Pidgeon displayed their fear and strength. The film realistically shows not only the terror of living in a war zone but how a people can rise against adversity. Simply a must see!

Trivia: Some may have been a little unnerved when they heard Mrs. Minniver married her son Vin shortly after they made this film. ;)


Tonight on TCM!
Mr. Imperium (1951) An exiled king and a film star try to rekindle a romance from the past.

Cast: Lana Turner, Ezio Pinza, Marjorie Main, Barry Sullivan Dir: Don Hartman

Vintage Ads

Warren gets toothy.

Ava "points out" Acrila's assets.

Tuesday hocks 7-Up.

 Joan shapes up!

 Greer goes bananas- er...grapes over Lux!

Things aren't nifty if Basil has no Skippy.

 Edmund protects his voice, leaving his lungs to fend for themselves.

Julia Misbehaves (1948)

Julie Packett (Greer Garson) is an English dancehall actress who’s often broke but manages to get by with pluck, a positive attitude and charitable friends. When she learns of her estranged daughter’s pending marriage, one such friend graciously offers to deck her out and send her off to the wedding. When William Packett, (Walter Pidgeon) Julie’s ex-husband and his mother (Lucile Watson) learn of her invitation to Susan’s (Elizabeth Taylor) wedding, William hurries off to catch her halfway and convince her not to come. However, he doesn’t get his chance and Julie arrives before he gets back home and is warmly accepted by her daughter who secretly sent the invitation.
Julie sets about to make sure that Susan makes the right decision with her marriage while fending off her ex-husband’s new ignited passion for her. He left her once, who’s to say he won’t do it again.

Full of funny banter and some awkward moments, Julia Misbehaves is a fun little film. I am beginning to realize that Garson and Pidgeon were paired so often together for a reason- they had serious onscreen chemistry!


Tonight on TCM!
The Lady Eve (1941) A lady cardsharp tries to con an eccentric scientist only to fall for him.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette Dir: Preston Sturges

Feeling Peckish :)>

The Valley of Decision (1945)

Mary Rafferty (Greer Garson) comes from a poor family of steel mill workers in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Her insufferable father, played by Lionel Barrymore (picture Mr. Potter on roids), was crippled by an accident in the mill and objects when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family who controls the mill. When Mary catches the attention of the handsome Paul Scott (Gregory Peck), their romance is complicated by the conniving ways of Louise Kane (Jessica Tandy) who wants Paul for herself, Mary’s conscience over the social complications of their union, which is not at all relieved by her father who believes the Scotts are evil and is secretly planning a union strike against their mill.
A lovely film despite Barrymore’s overzealous crotchetiness, Greer Garson is a breath of fresh air in the gloomy background of a Pittsburgh mill. It was also exciting to see a young Jessica Tandy who played quite a witch in the film.

Designing Woman (1957)

Fast forward eleven years and fall into a smooth comedy featuring Lauren Bacall, Gregory Peck, Dolores Grey, and Tom Helmore. With shades of Woman of the Year sans drama, Designing Woman is directed through first person narrative giving the viewer the perspective from the two main characters. Peck, a sportswriter and Bacall, a fashion designer find they have a lot of adjusting to do when they marry in haste. Add in a little jealousy, a punchy ex-boxer, some minor threats from a mob boss and lots of beautiful dresses and you have a hilarious Minnelli comedy.

Spellbound (1945)

When the head of Green Manors mental asylum Dr. Murchison (Leo Carroll) is forced to retire after a breakdown, he is replaced by the young and handsome Dr. Edwardes (Gregory Peck), whom from day one holds the usually cold and efficient Dr. Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) enthralled. Is it his dashing good looks or is she destined to be spellbound for a more important purpose? Dr. Edwardes seems strange right off and before his second day has ended, Dr. Petersen has figured him out for an impostor. Determined to help “Dr. Edwardes” who she figures is a paranoid amnesiac with a guilt complex, Spellbound is full of suspense and breathtaking moments.
Though Vertigo still reigns supreme for me, I was quite impressed with the effects and usage of camera angles in this film (the image below, when played out, was quite disturbing) and recommend anyone who has not seen it to do so. Quite entertaining, especially the old school psychiatric lingo that always makes me giggle.

Knit It!

It takes two to make a thing go right
It takes two to make it outta sight
Knit it!

Ingrid Bergman

Greer Garson

Sylvia Sidney

Rosalind Russell

Jayne Mansfield

Katharine Hepburn

In through the front door,
Once around the back.
Peek through the window,
And off jumps Jack!
-Susan Kranz-

Audrey Hepburn

Mae Marsh

Bette Davis

Ann Sheridan

And the Queen Bee of knitting, Ms. Joan Crawford!

On the set of Reunion in France

On the set of Humoresque

On the set of Mildred Pierce

Now if I only I had one of her on the set of The Women. Reportedly while George Cukor filmed Shearer, Crawford sat on the sidelines knitting an afghan with the loudest needles available, until Shearer complained of the distraction to Cukor who then ordered Crawford back to her trailer.

Tonight on TCM!

It's Elvis' birthday and though the man could sing, I preferred he simply stuck to that. Watch his movies at your own risk. ;)

Random Harvest (1942)

In 1918, "Smith," an amnesiac, shell-shocked officer, who has lived in a county asylum in Melbridge, England for many months, wanders into town for the first time and is surrounded by people celebrating the end of WWI. To escapes the noise he ducks into a tobacconist's shop but his hesitant speech alerts the owner that he is from the asylum. As she goes to call them, a kindly entertainer, who goes by the name Paula Ridgeway, advises he should leave. When she sees how overwhelmed he is she invites him to a pub and then her show where Smithy (her nickname for him) becomes ill and in need of care. Paula nurses him back to health but the asylum is on the look out for him and she is convinced he simply needs to live life to get better not stay at an asylum. She takes him to a small town in Devon where they stay at a local inn until both are employed- Paula as a typist and Smithy as a writer. Soon they are married, have a place of their own, and a newborn son. Smithy is called off to Liverpool by the Mercury paper for a possible permanent position. Worried for him to be out on his own but happy that Smithy has somewhat recovered even though he remembers nothing before the war, Paula lets him go to Liverpool on his own. After checking into his hotel, Smithy walks toward the Mercury office but is hit by a car and knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he has no memory of the past three years and recalls only his life as aristocrat Charles Rainier and his life up to being shell-shocked in the war.
Confused as to how he ended up in Liverpool three years after the war has ended and haunted by the latchkey he finds in his pocket, Charles returns home, where he finds that his father has died and his siblings are anticipating their inheritance. He also meets Kitty, the teenaged daughter of his sister's new husband. He resumes life as usual and instead of writing, puts his efforts into expanding the family fortune. By 1932, Charles has become known as "the industrial prince of England" for being such a successful businessman, but he still feels there is something missing in his life and he thinks it’s tied up in those three missing years.
Meanwhile, Charles has been loyally served for two years by his private secretary, Margaret Hanson, who is really Paula though Charles does not recognize her as Paula. Their son died in infancy and Paula has been anxiously waiting for Charles to regain some memory of her. When he informs her that he intends to marry Kitty, Paula struggles with the idea of telling him everything but is made to realize that Charles must discover his past on his own. She legally claims her husband dead so that Charles will not be breaking the law.
On the day that Kitty and Charles are selecting music for their wedding, one melody inexplicably reminds him of his past and he momentarily looks at Kitty as if she were a stranger. Realizing that she cannot compete with a ghost from his past, Kitty tells him that they cannot go through with the wedding. This leads Charles to research his past and Paula follows him to Liverpool and tries to lead him to the proper clues but nothing jars his memory.
Back at home Charles is elected to Parliament and confesses to Paula that from time to time he has had the feeling that he knew her in the past. He then proposes that they marry in a kind of "merger" in which she would help him in his political life and he can offer friendship. Paula agrees but after three years of marriage and despite Charles' affection and friendship, she yearns for the love she shared with Smithy and decides that she needs to get away from her life for a while. As Charles uneasily sees her off on the train, he receives word that there is labor unrest in his cableworks in Melbridge. He soon settles the dispute, and as he goes through the town, he surprises his assistant by going right to the tobacconist's shop even though he stated he had never been in Melbridge before. This stirs something in his memory and the next day, Paula, who had been staying at the old Devon inn, learns from the proprietress that a man has just been by asking for the former owner and inquiring about a nearby cottage. At the cottage, Charles's memories begin to flood back as his latchkey opens the front door. When Paula arrives and calls him "Smithy," he finally recognizes who she really is and the two happily embrace.

I loved both Colman and Greer in this film. Colman does such a fantastic job of eliciting sympathy from the viewer as Smithy and Garson is angelic as the patient and loving lost wife. I am not sure if Garson was really singing but her "She's Ma Daisy" number alone was well worth seeing the film. It's a bit frustrating in how long it takes Charles to discover Smithy again but well worth it when the final seen does come. When Garson whispers Smithy and he turns to her and recognizes her for the first time in years- it's a tear jerker. Literally. Och! That was sooooo well done. And to think, it may have been different is Garson had gotten her way.


Side note:
Thanks to Ms. Greer Garson

GREER: You know, Mervyn dear, I had some thoughts on how we might improve the ending.
MERVYN LeROY: No, Greer, we already have too much as it is. It'll be hard enough just getting it down to two hours.
GREER: I always thought it was odd that Ronnie should just walk up to that little cottage and open the front door. Isn't that breaking and entering?
LeROY: No one will care.
GREER: And would the key still work after all those years?
LeROY: The audience will love this ending, Greer.
GREER: Oh wait, I know. What if Ronnie knocks on the door and finds that the old vicar is living there?
LeROY: And then what?
GREER: Oh, I don't know. The vicar could recognize him and ask "How's the wife?"
LeROY: No, we can't get Ivan back at this late date.
GREER: I'm just trying to stretch the ending out a bit longer.
LeROY: Believe me, Greer, after you leave Miss Barnes at the inn and Ron has started to remember, the audience will be dying for a resolution.
GREER: Well then, what about this. When Ronnie opens the cottage door at the end, I could be standing there inside the house waiting for him.
LeROY: Enough already. Go have Sydney fix your hair.


Tonight on TCM!
To Have And Have Not (1944) A skipper-for-hire's romance with a beautiful drifter is complicated by his growing involvement with the French resistance.Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Moran Dir: Howard Hawks

S & G: Kilt dancing

Greer Garson in Random Harvest (1942).

Mrs. Parkington (1941)

Mrs. Parkington is the history of a love story told through flashbacks. When scandal erupts within the Parkington family that could ruin their fortune and good name, Susie Parkington cannot help reflecting back on her marriage to the man that built the Parkington name and how he would handle the situation. Through a series of flashbacks we learn of the love and loss of Major and Mrs. Parkington from their meeting in a boarding house where Susie worked in a town called Leaping Frog, Nevada; through their private battle during a public humiliation and their estrangement following the death of their son. The underlying moral of the story beyond the hardships of love and loss is the realization of creating an empire and fortune worthy of passing down only to find that it has corrupted the potential inheritors.
With thoughts of the Major in mind, Susie makes a decision contrary to the wishes of the family, but one that she feels the Major would make as well.

I always enjoy a good story about disfunctional families, the Parkingtons are no exception. Though the film over two hours and the storyline is not uncommon, I was absorbed in the wonderful performances of Garson, Pidgeon, and Agnes Moorehead who played the extravagant Baroness Aspasia Conti. It was interesting to see Mrs. Parkington evolve from a young naive girl to a knowledgeable, unaffected woman through each flashback; to see the relationship that was questionable at first grow into true love; to see how the Major and Mrs. Parkington resolved their problems and overcame loss. It makes me look forward to seeing Mrs. Miniver all the more!


Tonight on TCM!

High Noon (1952) A retired Marshal must defend his town from a revengeful villain. Cast: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado Dir: Fred Zinnemann