BARBARA STANWYCK: STRONG THE STANWYCK WAY

Thirteenth and last in a series about strong women in film. Strong women are independent, beautiful, sexy, feminine and just want everything in life that a man wants and believe that they have every right to have it!

I had to save the best for last! What is there to say about this lady that hasn't already been said? Beloved by her public and by her co-workers, she is the third jewel in the triple royal crown of American strong women in film alongside Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Stanwyck was often unfairly compared to Davis, but there really is no comparison. Of the three, she is the most even, the least neurotic and the one I'd most like to have my back. She may have never hit the acting heights of Davis or Crawford, but she never sunk to their depths. Her reputation in her field is spotless and it only grows as the years go by. There is no trace of artifice, no fuss, no muss. With Stanwyck, what you see is what you get. And what you see is a great screen actress. Period.

Known as "Missy" to her friends, Brooklyn's Ruby Stevens went from the telephone company to the chorus to Hollywood. Along the way, she won the love and respect of her co-workers (both in front of and behind the camera) and her audience. This was no Hollywood Diva!

If you want to be a strong, independent woman, or if you are an admirer of the type, you can learn a lot from Missy.

Barbara Stanwyck's Guide 

to Being a Strong, Independent Woman

#1: If you're strong, you can be soft and sweet

Barbara could be a vision of femininity  

#2:  If you're strong, you can take control of the situation

I would not take a chance those gloves were just for show

#3: If you're strong, you can admit you can't cook

Hey - that's why people hire chefs

#4: If you're strong, you can strip

Barbara played a stripper at least 3 times, so she felt
confident in the g-string

#5: If you're strong, you can ride a motorcycle as good as any man and look damn good doing it

Looking good with Elvis. I'm sure she could have driven, but I think she 
just wanted to get her arms around the King.

#6: If you're strong, you are a straight shooter

You'd have to be nuts to mess with her

#7: If you're strong, you see things through to the end (no matter how dirty the deal)

Taking murder seriously

#8: If you're strong, you can have a soft heart for the weaker ones

She could have, but she didn't

#9: If you're strong you can be a loving mother

Mother Love requires real strength

#10: If you're strong, you can beat the boys at their own game

If this woman is in the Executive Suite, she will run the show

#11: If you're strong, you can be sexy at any age

A legend in every way.

#12: If you're strong, you help those on the way up and they never forget it.

William Holden never forgot Stanwyck's kindness
during the filming of "Golden Boy"

At the 1978 Academy Awards, while the two were presenting the
award for Best Sound, Holden went off script, paid tribute to her
integrity and generosity and thanked Missy for saving his career.
In 1982, after Holden had passed away and while accepting her
honorary Oscar, she dedicated the award to her "Golden Boy."
What a classy lady!

And, if you're strong you are always fiercely yourself - beautiful like no other. Leave the conventional beauties to the conventional minded.

I think it's fair to say that in her career that spanned roughly 60 years, she never gave a bad performance. Here are just a few of those I think are her very best:
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
Baby Face (1933)
Stella Dallas (1937)
The Lady Eve (1940)
Remember the Night (1940)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946)
Sorry Wrong Number (1948)

If I omitted your favorite, I apologize, but there are just so many wonderful films and so many more wonderful Stanwyck performances!

Bottom line: they don't come any better than Barbara Stanwyck. A total pro, she was the Ziegfeld Follies, pre-code, romance, comedy, Noir, westerns, and TV. What else is there to say? The best. Period.

The 2011 Complete "Strong Women in Film Series:


Bette Davis: No Apologies
Ann Dvorak: A Penthouse, Pre-Code and You
Joan Crawford: I Will Previal
The Flapper: Free, Female and 21
Ann Sheridan: One Swell Gal
Jane Russell: Nobody's Cupcake
Susan Hayward: Diminish at Your Own Risk
Mabel Normand: Paying the Price
Katharine Hepburn: Born This Way
Myrna Loy: The People's Queen
Irene Dunne: Delightful, Delicious and No Distress
Mary, Mae, Marlene and Doris: Industrial Strength Blondes