Ann Dvorak Bests Bette Davis Again (and she's "just a housewife")

Housewife (1934)

Sadly, this advertisement is more interesting than the film. "Housewife," a Warner Brothers factory product of 1934, is pretty much a stinker (but not, as Bette Davis referred to it years later, "a horror"). Bette probably hated it because her part, as the vampish bachelor-career girl, was about as cliched as they come. And Ann Dvorak, once again, got the better role. If you remember, Ann also got the plum role of bored and coked up socialite Vivian Revere in 1932's "Three on a Match" and pretty much acted everyone in the film (including Davis, Joan Blondell and Humphrey Bogart) off the screen.

So why bother with "Housewife"? It is one of the few films where Ann Dvorak gets to shine and shine she does (brighter than poor Bette, who is all big eyes and carnal grins). Ann plays Nan Reynolds, wife of underachiever Bill Reynolds (George Brent, who always looks as though he has a short man's head on a tall man's body). Bill is a rather meek and passive office manager at an advertising firm. Nan, efficient home engineer that she is, manages to make do on his meager salary and makes a comfy home for Bill and son Buddy (played by an extremely annoying child actor by the name of Ronnie Cosby). 

the happy home of the housewife before the home-wrecker shows up

Nan is supportive of Bill, always encouraging him and helping him with new ideas. She knows he can do better, but Bill shows a stunning lack of ambition. Don Draper he is not!

Meek Man/Mad Man

A brash and sexy copywriter named Pat Berkeley (Bette Davis) shows up one day at Bill's firm and sets his world on fire. He and Nan and Pat were friends back at school. Pat might have felt a little hurt that Bill chose Nan over her, but now, Pat is a successful career girl and Bill is the boss's punching bag. Pat, who is a real go-getter, makes it her mission to go get Bill.

Pat makes goo-goo eyes at Bill

Meanwhile, Nan has a bright idea, encouraging Bill to pinch a client from his boss and start his own firm. Amazingly, it works, and now Bill is the big cheese and he has brought that little rat, Pat, along to help him. Not only does she help him in business, she helps herself to him after hours.

Nan knows those "honey, I have to work late again" calls are bunk

With Bill's financial success, Nan is running a much more prosperous household, but she is miserable. She must deal with both Bill's blatant affair with Pat as well as his lack of attention to her, his home and his son. She maintains her dignity with a capital "D." Nan married for life and was not going to bow down to that little vamp-tramp. After all, she knows Bill never had an original thought that was born above his waist, and even those thoughts didn't last long. Bill, hot for Pat and angry that Nan won't grant him his divorce, leaves their home in a snit and - EEK! - runs over little Buddy. Her son's life hanging by a thread, Nan agrees to a divorce. 

Buddy slowly heals and Bill feels more and more like a heel with every passing day. Finally, at the court testimony for her divorce, Nan shows herself to still be in love with Bill and Bill just goes back to being that pile of mush that he was before Pat showed up. Cue Pat to slink into the sunset.

Pretty awful, no? Aside from being a modern woman's nightmare and Warners' nightmare wasting Bette Davis after "Of Human Bondage," this film does have a few things to offer:

1. Ann Dvorak

For a brief moment, Ann Dvorak out-juiced Bette Davis at Warner Brothers, which meant that they thought she had just as much star power, ability and appeal as Davis. Sadly, it was a career that never fulfilled its promise. Ann Dvorak was not as driven or determined as Bette Davis (few were or are), and her star quickly faded. She is a rare treat, and she can be well savored here.

2. Orry-Kelly

There are some lovely dresses and gowns by Orry-Kelly, that are always a pleasure to watch. Those Warner gals had some swanky wardrobes!

3. Bette Davis

We all know she hated these kind of parts, but she had to serve her apprenticeship and man, was she a cutie!

So, this was really just an excuse to spend some time with Ann Dvorak in more than a supporting  or trivial part. For those who are Ann enthusiasts, a long-awaited biography of her will be published in November. The book, by Christina Rice, is titled "Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel."
I've pre-ordered mine!

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Broadway Greats Via The Silver Screen

Broadway vs. Hollywood - it's always been a case of apple and oranges. Hollywood stars don't always shine as brightly on the stage and stage legends don't always make the grade on the screen and whichever you prefer,  it's always a matter of taste. However, there is one thing the movies have over the stage and that is permanence. After a great stage show, it all becomes just a memory. Once that performance is filmed it lasts, one hopes, forever. Especially in the early days of sound, many great stage stars tried their hand at movies and, while most didn't achieve great stardom in that medium, we are thankful that their talent is preserved.

Jeanne Eagles - The Letter

The great Jeanne Eagels. She is a stage legend and I was so thrilled to catch her only surviving sound film, 1929's "The Letter," on TCM recently. Yes, it is ancient and the sound technique positively antique, but the vibrancy and ferocity of Jeanne Eagels cannot be denied. Like a raw, jumpy nerve, she vibrates just on the edge of self-control. At the time this movie was filmed, Eagles was was in the throes of drug addiction and would be dead 6 months after the picture's release.

Watching Eagels, it is impossible not to compare her performance to that of Bette Davis in the 1940, slightly more sanitized, version of the same W. Somerset Maugham story. Davis, the film actress supreme, is smoother and much more subtle. But film acting had come a long way from 1929 to 1940 and something about Eagel's performance reminded me of something else - Bette Davis' 1934 breakout performance in "Of Human Bondage."

Here Davis acts in that raw nerve style similar to that of Eagels. Bette Davis was an admirer of Jeanne Eagels and it's fun to see the evolution of great dramatic film acting in such a short period of time. It's even more fun to have a permanent record of the great Ms. Eagels, for her's was an important talent.

Helen Morgan - Show Boat

Helen Morgan was a legendary torch singer who created the role of Julie in the original stage production of "Show Boat." She is an unusual performer for film, as her voice was rather reedy and she was not a traditional beauty. One thing Helen Morgan could do, though, was break your heart. Wildly popular in person, she had a lukewarm film career. She was a sensation in 1929's "Applause," but she was too unusual for film stardom. Luckily, she was asked to play the role of Julie in the 1936 film version of "Show Boat." Anyone who has heard her sing "Bill" can never forget it.

"Show Boat" would be Helen Morgan's last film. Her struggle with alcohol is written all of her face. Sadly, she passed away at age 41 in 1941 from the ravages of that disease. Happily, her great talent is preserved for all to admire.

Marilyn Miller - Sally

How do I love Marilyn Miller? Oh, in just so many ways. The original MM (for who the second MM was named), Marilyn Miller was a huge star and the darling of the Great White Way. A Ziegfeld protege and ex-wife of Jack Pickford, she was a diva deluxe who backed her demands with talent. Her dancing was legendary and she, like so many other stage stars, was courted by Hollywood at the birth of the all talking, all singing, all dancing musical craze.

Marilyn's greatest stage hit, "Sally," was brought to the screen by Warner Brothers in 1929. Filmed in early Technicolor, it only survived for many years in a tattered black and white version. Seeing Marilyn like this it is hard to fathom her appeal. She looks like a painted doll, as the Technicolor make-up looks flat and harsh in black and white. Added to unflattering looks, her singing voice is less than attractive. However, once she starts dancing, well, it all becomes clear. Filmed in full body shots like Fred Astaire a few years later, her love of dancing and entertaining cuts through all of the technical drawbacks of the era.

Some years ago an original Technicolor portion of "Sally" was discovered. Here, she is much lovelier (the make-up now giving her a flattering glow) and her elegance, joie de vivre and enthusiasm is on full display. Filmed on a set that was over 90 degrees, the energy of the dancers is impressive.

After 2 other films, Marilyn Miller headed back to Broadway. Musicals were dying at the box office and this diva was not interested in failure. Sadly, after one last stage triumph, Marilyn Miller would die in 1936 at the age of 38 from complications related to a sinus infection. Her signature song from "Sally," Look for the Silver Lining, is preserved forever and I am grateful.

Robert Preston - The Music Man

I am falling over myself with love for Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill, but while it seems that absolutely no one else but he could play that part in the 1962 screen adaptation on the stage show, Preston was not Hollywood's first choice. Apparently Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant were considered, but, thankfully, reason prevailed.

Preston took an unusual path to stardom via this film. A well known film actor, Preston never quite made the "A" list during his years in Hollywood (1938 through the 1950s). He was handsome, appealing, a good actor, but a tad intense. There was something larger than life about him and, from 1952 through the 1970s, Robert Preston found his true home on the stage, solidifying his superstar status from 1957-1961 as "The Music Man."

And so, here is is - the only actor we can ever imagine in this role.

Preston's movie stardom was sealed with this film and he went on to have the pick of film and stage roles for the rest of his life. And boy, did he make every film he appeared in better for his presence.

Stage vs. Film: always a debate, always a matter of taste. But, thankfully, the fixed, forever nature of film preserves those legendary artists who, without it, we could only dream about.

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Three on a Match: The Original Sex and the City

Once upon a time there were three (later four) girlfriends who lived in the big city. One was fun-loving, but good-hearted, one was career minded (and not man-minded), and one was the rich girl who thought all she wanted to do was get married, but learned later that all she really wanted to do was have sex, drink booze and do drugs.

In the new millennium, this could be Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York/Samantha Jones of "Sex and the City". In 1932, it was Mary Keaton, Ruth Wescott and Vivian Revere of "Three on a Match." While the gals of the new century get to whoop it up over Cosmos and a variety of boyfriends, the ladies of 1932 have to pay. And yet, some things never change because, being women, they all pay a price. Being a dame on the lose in the city has always been tough on a girl's psyche, not to mention her lingerie. The end result: tears and regrets for some, a child for others, and the arms of a "Mr. Big" for the jackpot winner. Though they are generations apart, both stories are, at heart, ones of friendship, sexuality, a woman's life in a modern metropolis and her vague dissatisfaction with her role in society.

Mary Keaton/Carrie Bradshaw

While Carrie Bradshaw explored the life of a single, professional woman of style in the city from a writer's point of view, Joan Blondell's Mary Keaton viewed it from the vantage point of the showgirl (that working girl that was just one societal rung above that other kind of working girl). Mary had to do a stint in reform school for her youthful cheekiness, but she was a tough little survivor with a tender heart who made her way in the world with a cheerful outlook and an eye out for a nice dress and her own "Mr. Big."

both Mary & Carrie like unusual headgear

Ruth Wescott/Miranda Hobbes

Being a single career woman is never easy, but at least Miranda got to be a lawyer. Poor Ruth, the smartest girl in the class, had to settle for a secretarial position (I'll be she ran the office). While Miranda had more material success, both she and Ruth struggled with society's look of pity on the poor, smart, self-sufficient - UNMARRIED -woman. Forget the fact that both women were lovely. Bette looked kick-ass in her bathing suit and slip, but her brains relegated her to the sexless pile and her prize at the end was to raise another woman's child while Mary got the father.

no matter how hot you look,
if you have brains you have trouble attracting men

Vivian Revere/Charlotte York - Samantha Jones

Oh Vivian - you had it all. Just like Charlotte, you were brought up to be a lady. Just like Samantha, the siren song of men, booze and illegal drugs called to you. But, while Samantha mostly had fun with it and Charlotte's good-girl upbringing kept reeling her in, Vivian threw it all out the window for a handsome and fun-loving stud. Married to a loyal, but boring drip, she followed her - um - heart (or whatever body part was talking to her) and left hubby behind. She did show some motherly instincts and took Junior with her, but the sex and booze and drugs interfered with her parenting skills.

both Vivian and Samantha took pride in their linens

If Viv had lived in the new century, she would have either hired a full-time nanny or left Junior with his dad and embraced her latent party girl. She could have kept this up well into her 50s with good skin treatments and a personal trainer. Instead, she spent her days coked up and passed out. There was no way she would be allowed to be rehabilitated. And so, in a final act of heroic motherhood, she must die while Samantha Jones lives to party on into her golden years.

a scream is a scream is a scream ... or is it?

Mr. Big or The Elephant in the Room

Oh, there has to be a "Mr. Big" for every little girl, doesn't there? And so, in our pre-code pre-feminist day, there was Warren William. Here, he is a rich stuffed shirt. You can't blame Viv for being bored and you can't blame clever Mary Keaton for snatching him and the big bucks after Viv hits the pavement.

Mr. Big gets the pick of the remaining litter and selects the
sassy showgirl with the heart of gold for his bed
and the girl with brains to raise his kid. Life is good!

At least sisterhood prevails for the SATC women: through their many trials and many men, they remain friends. In 1932, two women remain friends while one lies splattered on the sidewalk, never knowing that one friend married her ex while the other became her son's nanny. Nice work, ladies.

No matter how daring our 1932 or 21st century darlings were, the core moral of the tale barely changes: don't be dissatisfied, little girl. Instead, find happiness in the arms of your own Mr. Big. Believe it, my dear, and you will weep and continue to keep looking for stories that promise that ever elusive happy ending.

Once upon a time there were three (or four) glamorous
girlfriends who lived in the city and they wanted
all of the good things life has to offer.....

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CMBA Gulity Pleasures Movie Blogathon: Three on a Match

Warner Brothers Depravity Disguised as Entertainment (and we love it!)

This is my contribution to the Classic Movie Blog Association's Guilty Pleasures Movie Blogathon. For the complete line-up, click here. I can't wait to read about everyone's guilty pleasure!

Why do we love pre-Code films? Fast pace? Check. Great stories? Check. Great casts? Check again. Oh come on. Let's be honest. It's the sex, depravity and lingerie! 

I consider all pre-Code films guilty pleasures. Each generation seems to think it is the first to discover sex. To be honest, the biggest kick I get out of pre-Code films is the fact that we are seeing depravity and sex before the big Hollywood clean up. It's kind of like watching a movie of your grandparents dirty dancing. Many of the pre-Codes are terrific and have marvelous stars, but I'm being honest when I say I'm in it for the sex, drugs,  depravity, slips and frilly undergarments. There.

That being said, "Three on a Match", directed by Mervyn LeRoy, is one of my favorite pre-Codes. It has all of the above-mentioned ingredients, plus kidnapping, child neglect and so much more. And - it's all done in 63  minutes. It comes from my favorite 1930s studio, Warner Brothers. Their early 1930s films have that make-it-quick "ripped from today's headlines" look, but are loaded with so much talent that these tawdry stories are elevated to an art form. In 1932, the year of "Three on a Match," the Warner's roster consisted of James Cagney, Paul Muni, Edward G. Robinson and our delicious cast of characters.

Bette Davis, Joan Blondell and Ann Dvorak:
Smoking is the least of their sins

The Story
Our little story stars 3 of my favorite Warner Brothers ladies: Ann Dvorak, Joan Blondell and Bette Davis. The male cast is headed up by Mr. pre-Code himself, Warren William, and nasty support comes from Allen Jenkins, Lyle Talbot, Edward Arnold and that old pre-Code meanie, Humphrey Bogart.


The 3 ladies in question are childhood school acquaintances (PS 62). The opening sequences quickly establish their fate: little Mary is mischievous, likes the boys, smokes and has trouble with authority. Clearly, she is a candidate for the dreaded reform school. Ruth, the class valedictorian is a bookish goody-goody who will be the good-girl of the trio and Vivian is the beautiful and spoiled rich girl.

So they say...

Time marches on (shown through a neat montage of newspaper headlines and popular songs depicting the ensuing years from 1919-1930 when our story begins) and each girl has fulfilled her destiny. Mary (now Joan Blondell) is in that sinful trade, show business.  Ruth (now Bette Davis) is a stenographer (class valedictorian = secretary. Ah, those were the days, but I digress...). Vivian (now Ann Dvorak) is married to attorney Robert Kirkwood (Warren William), still rich, spoiled and now bored. They meet for lunch and, throwing caution to the wind, knowingly light their three cigarettes on one match. Legend has it that it is unlucky to light three smokes on one match, as the holder of the third one lit will die. Vivian envies the other women and confides that she is restless ("I want things passionately and, then when I get them, don't seem to want them anymore"). She is the third one on the match. Uh oh.

Looking for excitement

Viv has an annoyingly curly-headed little son who seems to think he is Shirley Temple, a handsome home and an attentive husband who senses her restlessness. Wanting to please her, he books an ocean cruise to Europe, but before the ship sails he gets called away on business, leaving Viv and Junior to take the trip by themselves.

This kid is so annoying that you
 almost wish.....no, no , not going there!

Mary, still little the catalyst for mischief, meets Vivian on the ship before it sails. She and her chums are going to a bon voyage party, but are not taking the cruise. Viv is invited and before you know it, sparks are flying between her and no-good gambling man Mike Loftus (Lyle Talbot), who proves his admiration for the sophisticated Vivian by telling her "you're not like those other stuffed brassieres on Park Avenue." What girl could resist a line like that?

Lust at fist sight

Well, before you know it, Vivian gets off the ship and on the dope. She takes her boy and leaves her husband for a life of sex and drugs, liquor and lingerie.  Mary and Ruth are concerned and side with husband Kirkwood (who falls for Mary and marries her after divorcing Vivian, but likes to keep Ruth around as a governess. Hmmm....). Kirkwood even gets his boy back, but not for long.

Mary moves in on her friend's husband...

while Vivian enjoys her new lifestyle.

Kirkwood and Mary rescue Junior while Vivian "rests"

Vivian and Loftus eventually run out of money and Loftus gets in deep with some bad gangster-types. Owing a lot of money he can't repay, he agrees to kidnap Vivian's boy in order to extort money from Kirkwood. Well, things go bad and, in a tense finale (where Bogey figures it's best to kill the little boy), the police close in on the kidnappers and the boy. Vivian, suffering from withdrawal, finally finds some sense of self-sacrifice and mother-love (to a child that has been horribly neglected). Feverishly, she scrawls the location of her son on her nightgown in lipstick to alert the police and jumps out of a four-story window to her death.

Vivian's hide-out  flat: Shabby Chic?

Vivian's grand finale

The final scenes reunite Junior and Kirkwood and we see Mary and Ruth share a match to light a cigarette (only 2 on a match now, so all's well that ends well).

Now that the first wife is out of the way, Mary
has Viv's husband, house and child;
Ruth no longer has to type.

Why I love this film

Ann Dvorak

Ann Dvorak: beautiful & chic & an emotional timebomb

In case you didn't already know, I worship Ann Dvorak, so this film is a home run for me. The fact that Ann got the showiest role is a testament to how much Warners thought of her star power. And, being the chic, elegant, edgy and ultra-femme actress that she was, she did not disappoint (especially in those pathetic, drug-deprived scenes with her kid). And, I have to side with Vivan here, a bit. Aside from the child abuse and drug addiction, who can blame her for wanting someone more exciting than stuffy old Kirkwood? And, isn't it "convenient" that Mary just happend to be there for Kirkwood? Just sayin'.

Shut up? Don't tell me to shut up!

She gives Jeanne Eagles a run for her money in the jumpy, I-need-a-fix category, and the fix she needs comes not only from a bottle or a needle, but apparently from what Lyle Talbot was giving her in the bedroom (and Warren William was not). 

Bette Davis in a slip

Yes, I'm the class valedictorian. That means I grow up to take dictation.

I swear, they've got to stop giving me these kind of parts!

Platinum Blonde Bette doesn't do much in this film and has the least interesting role. But, she gets to look sexy in a slip and in a bathing suit. When assessing the talents of the fabulous Miss Davis, we tend to overlook the fact that she was awfully cute and had a kick-ass body. That needs to be said. Bette didn't care much for this film and her part was bland, but she should have been proud of how swell she looked.

Joan 's was usually the bod on display, but here it's Bette's

Joan Blondell

Getting a beauty treatment

Joan Blondell fit Warner Brothers pre-Codes like a glove. Although there was something invariably nice and comfy and decent about her, it's easy to imagine her as the reform school dropout. She's the sassy, big hearted gal who just can't say "no" to anything that just might be fun. And depravity is fun, isn't it?

2 girls looking ready for the beach

Warren William

A Warners pre-Code regular, no one plays a stuffed shirt better that Warren William. And I just can't help thinking that a guy who takes Joan and Bette into his house and enjoys watching them frolic on the beach is not all that pure. Maybe Kirkwood and Vivian had more in comon than they thought. Depravity comes in all disguises.

Humphrey Bogart

Not nice

Oh, is he a meanie in this and he does it so well! No heroic noir-guy here, just a nasty baby-killing thug that he plays to the hilt. Favorite moment: his smarmy smirk and "uh oh" when Vivian repeatedly wipes her nose (obviously because she is on the snow).

Coke, not Pepsi

Allen Jenkins

The great Warner Brothers stalwart is mean through and through in this one. Really. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.


Lyle Talbot
Before signing on with the infamous Ed Wood, Jr., Talbot had a respectable Hollywood career. He really breaks out into good sweats in this.

Edward Arnold

A small role as crime boss Ace, but it's fun to watch him pluck his nose hairs as Loftus tells him he can't pay his debt.


I admit it - I'm guilty
I could be high-handed and say I love the pre-Codes because they are the voice of freedom before the iron fist of censorship silenced great art, but, just between us, I'll come clean. It's the sex, the drugs, the depravity and the swell lingerie that reels me in every time. 

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