#project1952 day 29

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Life magazine, April 14th, 1952. There will always be people flying their freak flags, no matter the era or the culture or anything else! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

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Life magazine, April 14th, 1952. The Primaries were heating up for the Presidential election in the fall. I had never heard of Estes Kefauver before this project started, but now it's clear he was one of the front-runners for the Democrats. Edward R. Murrow aired a very awkward home tour with him back in January, although his home was surprisingly very modest, and virtually every political article about the Democrats mentions him. He was a Senator from Tennessee, or I guess you could put it the way Life does and say "Hairy chested Tennessean!"??

[project1939]

Life magazine, April 14th, 1952. If you ever wondered what old Kellogg's cereal boxes looked like... This was their new makeover for 1952! And the "old" versions are there in the background, too. (What the heck were some of these? Pep? Corn Soya? Krumbles?...)

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When I think of Life magazine, I usually imagine a more sophisticated kind of vibe... but clearly this isn't always correct!

[project1939]

Life magazine, April 14th, 1952.

[project1939]

Day 29- Film: Paula 

Release date: May 15th 

Studio: Columbia 

Genre: Noir 

Director: Rudolph Mate 

Producer: Buddy Adler 

Actors: Loretta Young, Kent Smith, Alexander Knox, Tommy Rettig

Plot Summary: Paula just suffered her second miscarriage, and the doctors say she’ll never get pregnant again. One night while driving, she hits a little boy with her car. Circumstances conspire against her, and she leaves the scene, keeping everything a secret. Wracked with guilt, she seeks the boy out in the hospital- he suffered a brain injury and cannot speak. Paula and her husband take him in to give him full-time speech therapy, eventually adopting him. But what happens if anyone can connect her to the hit and run? Including little Davey? 

My Rating (out of five stars): ***¾ ? 

Until the last 10 minutes or so, this was a solid 4 star movie for me. The very end knocked a little bit off, just because it was kind of unbelievable and a bit unsatisfying. BUT I really really enjoyed this film! It’s one I definitely want to go back and re-watch. 

The Good: 

Loretta Young. She was just very good all around. Her acting was very affecting, and I cared about her character. I also liked that Young was around 40 years old here- I'm always in favor of more roles for older women! 

Focusing on a woman dealing with infertility in the 1950s. The first 15 minutes was solely about the anguish Paula went through having lost a 2nd pregnancy and discovering she’d never have a biological baby. Even in 2023, infertility isn’t portrayed much in film, but in the 1950s? It was almost never talked about in an era where a woman’s entire purpose was seemingly to make babies. I can’t imagine how validating this movie might have been to a woman dealing with the issue in 1952. 

This is a noir with a female protagonist! Those are so rare. Off the top of my head, Mildred Pierce is the only one that comes to mind! (Maybe Rebecca, if that counts?) 

The little boy who played Davey. The film struck gold finding Tommy Rettig. For a child actor, his performance was incredible. He had to portray a kid who was learning to talk, and learning to trust people, and I don’t think anyone could have done it better. His eyes were so expressive, and yes he made me bawl at the end. 

The story continually kept me interested, and I was fully invested in it.  

I liked the character of Paula’s husband John. He was a good guy- very supportive to his wife. At first he didn’t want to adopt a little boy who couldn’t talk, fearing the stigmatization, but it did not take him long to totally fall in love with Davey. 

The Bad: 

The final 10 minutes or so. There were 2 abrupt shifts that I just didn’t buy- even though I cried my eyes out! 

Weird doctors telling Paula to have a drink! One doctor, in his office, handed her a shot glass and told her it would make her feel better. The other one saw her at a party, said, “You look like you need a drink!” and handed her a big one. At least none of them told her to calm down by smoking a cigarette, which I have actually seen in at least one movie! 

Yes, some of the coincidences of the film stretch believability- a woman who thinks she can’t have children hits an adorable little orphan boy with her car?- but... it is a movie, folks. 

[project1939]

Day 29- TV and Radio: 

TV: 

Dragnet, season 1, episode 11, “Big September Man,” May 8th, 1952. 

I Love Lucy, season 1, episode 30, “Lucy Does a Commercial,” May 5th, 1952. 

Radio: 

Jack Benny, “Jack Fixes the Phonograph,” May 4th, 1952. 

Father Knows Best, “My Name is Sam,” May 1st, 1952. 

I was glad to see more Dragnet episodes coming up, because it’s such an interesting show. It covers crime in a completely non-sensationalized way. We never see any murders or crimes happening, we never see blood or bodies... it’s just cops talking to each other and interrogating suspects. Today’s episode was about a creepy fundamentalist Christian killer. These were all real cases, and it especially hits home when they tell you the real guy was executed in the gas chamber in California. This was before California got rid of the death penalty, and before gas chambers went out of favor for not being as humane as claimed. 

On Father Knows Best youngest daughter Kathy is sick of all the things she can’t do because she isn’t a boy, so she decides to become one. She cuts her hair, calls herself Sam, and wants to do what her brother does. From the perspective of today, this could be received hostilely by either the left or the right! But in the end, of course, Dad convinced her to change her mind. She did get to go on a “boys” fishing trip with her dad and brother at the end, though! 

What can you even begin to say about the I Love Lucy episode? It includes one of the most famous 10 minute sequences in television history, and it’s a literal masterclass on comedic acting. In “Lucy Does a Commercial,” she weasels her way into being the pitch-girl for a TV show Ricky is doing. The health tonic she’s selling is actually 23% alcohol, and the more she practices swallowing spoonfuls of it, the more and more inebriated she gets. I was in college when I first saw the entire episode, and I remember crying with laughter then. Today? Same thing! It’s all the little details that catapult it into the stratosphere- her facial expressions, her posture and movement, the way her words begin to slur and the confusion sets in... Even the little details like her feeling really warm, or the way she suddenly feels a surge of love for the director- “Gee, you’re awfully nice.” The whole thing proves that if you start with really good writing and add a supremely talented actor, something magical can happen. 

...and now a word from today’s best sponsor: Can I be cheeky and say Vitameatavegamin? Are you tired, rundown, listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? The answer to all your problems is in this little bottle! Yes, with Vitameatavegamin you can spoon your way to health! Just take one tablespoon after every meal. And it’s so tasty too! It tastes just like candy! So why don't you join the thousands of happy peppy people and get a bottle today! (I did that from memory- how close was I?) Anyway, watch the damn episode! That’s what’ll really improve your wellbeing! 

[project1939]

Day 29:  "...And it's so tasty too!"

50s slang of the day: “Do I want a cigarette? Natch!” (Do I want a cigarette? Of course! Naturally!) 

Best/worst quote of the day: “Here, take this, it’ll make you feel better,” says a doctor as he hands his patient a straight shot of liquor... in his office! 

Song of the day: “Blacksmith Blues,” by Ella Mae Morse. This is one of those songs that I just liked instantly. I can’t listen to it when I have a headache, though, because it has a metallic blacksmithy clang striking every down beat! But the melody, the groove, and everything about it is fun. 

Highlights: 

All hail Queen Lucille Ball, I just watched the Vitameatavegamin episode! 

I found several more Dragnet television episodes from 1952. It's just the way I like my police procedurals: no glamour, no sensationalism, all 50s crime lingo. Are you a joy popper or a croaker, babe?

I still love me some noir. Especially a noir with a female protagonist! 

Lowlights: 

I’ve been feeling sick and nauseous all day, and I don’t know what’s wrong. And I can’t get sick now!! 

Why do movies with traumatized children make me bawl so much? (I’m human, I suppose? But I'm not even much of a kid person!) 

[project1939]

Day 31- Film: Kangaroo 

Release date: May 16th  

Studio: 20th Century Fox 

Genre: Western 

Director: Lewis Milestone 

Producer: Robert Bassler 

Actors: Maureen O’Hara, Peter Lawford 

Plot Summary: Richard Conner is stuck in Australia and is willing to do anything to get the money to go back to Lonon. He teams up with a gambler to rob a casino, but the owner is murdered in the mele. Now the two men are on the run, but they may have just found the perfect hideout on the remote ranch of a local booze-hound. 

My Rating (out of five stars): **½ 

I feel bored just writing about this, sorry to say. I was absolutely shocked when I made the connection that Lewis Milestone directed this! He directed one of my favorite early films, 1930’s All Quiet on the Western Front, and he also directed the very moving 1939 version of Of Mice and Men. This film was the absolute opposite of moving. The word that kept coming into my head watching it was “cold.” It didn’t give me lots of reasons to genuinely care about any of the characters, or about anything, really. 

The Good: 

It was the first big film actually filmed on location in Australia, and it showed. The Technicolor in this wasn’t the best, but even so, the scenery and the vibe in the background was very effective. Most of it took place on the Outback, and the feeling of immensity and emptiness was intense. I swear I felt dust in my clothes and hair after seeing all the dust blowing around everywhere in the film. 

Peter Lawford wasn’t too bad in this. He was pretty likeable, even if I didn’t find his character to be so. 

The Bad: 

I just didn’t care about the characters, especially Gamble the gambler (Get it? Subtle!) and Dell, Maureen O’Hara’s character. Dell was basically a cardboard cutout “stand around and worry about the men” female role. 

The plot didn’t keep me interested either. Once the outlaws got to the ranch, I was interested in the location photography, but that was about it. 

I feel a little iffy about how the Aboriginals were portrayed. I think most of the intention was good, because they didn’t turn them into adversaries, but it kind of had a dehumanizing “look at these exotic creatures” vibe. It wasn’t all bad, but some of it rubbed me the wrong way. I do believe they actually used Aboriginal people in the roles, though, which is great. 

The Technicolor just did not look good at all in this. It was an MGM film, and if you compare it to Singin in the Rain, the difference is cavernous. I’m sure some of it was the lower quality print I saw, and the fact that Singin in the Rain has been given a loving restoration, but even so... it did not look very good. 

WTF is up with the movie poster? We have a Godzilla-like kangaroo, Aboriginal people that look crazed, and two people on a horse who look nothing like Lawford or O’Hara! It also just looks like Dante’s Inferno behind them. Whoever painted this must have had too much Outback dust in their eyes (or head!).