Daily Archives: September 7, 2014

My Sister Eileen 
Directed by Alexander Hall
Written by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov from their play based on stories by Ruth McKenny
1942/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] [last lines] Subway Builder: Hey Moe, I think we made da wrong toin![/box]

This is a madcap “laugh a minute” comedy filled with kooky characters that chronicles the adventures of two poverty stricken would-be career girls in New York.  It is based on autobiographical pieces published in the New Yorker magazine.

Ruth (Rosalind Russell) and Eileen (Janet Blair) Sherwood are sisters from Columbus, Ohio who arrive in New York City with $100 between them.  Ruth hopes to find work as a writer and Eileen has her sights set on the stage.  They move into the basement apartment from hell as they set out to find their fortune.  Their window puts them in ear and eye range of the sidewalk, blasting for a new subway line rocks the apartment from early morning until midnight, and a faulty door lock has a series of odd balls dropping in day and night.

Both of the women are getting nowhere in their chosen professions but Eileen, a man magnet, at least does not have to subsist on pasta and bread like older sister Ruth.  Ruth starts having success first, however, when she meets a man (Brian Ahern) who is trying to bring the “Manhattaner” magazine up-to-date with some human interest stories.  With George Tobias as the sisters’ Greek painter-landlord, Allyn Joslyn as a womanizing reporter, and June Havoc as the former tenant.

This is funny, if hectic, and Rosalind Russell handles the comedy expertly.  It is all a little too much but does get the flavor of small town girls starting out in the big city with dreams and some talent.

My Sister Eileen was remade in 1955 with Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh. Rosalind Russell reprised her role as Ruth in 1953 in the Leonard Bernstein Broadway musical Wonderful Town; Edie Adams played Eileen.

Rosalind Russell was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in My Sister Eileen.

Clip – Three Stooges Cameo (the best I could do)

I Married a Witch
Directed by René Clair

Written by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly from a story by Thorne Smith
1942/USA

René Clair Productions/Cinema Guild Productions/Paramount Pictures

First viewing/Hulu Plus

[box] J.B. Masterson: Will you try to be a little more pleasant, at least until after the wedding?[/box]

Veronica Lake is more animated than usual in this Hollywood fantasy-romance from French emigree René Clair.

In the 17th Century, Puritan Jonathan Wooley (played by Fredric March in all his incarnations) denounces a girl and her father as a witch and sorcerer.  Before being burned at the stake, the daughter Jennifer curses Jonathan and his descendants to suffer from bad marriages.  The bodies are buried under an oak tree where the roots hold their spirits fast for 270 years.  The curse is effective though and we see succeeding generations of Wooleys plagued by marriages to shrews.

Finally, the spirits escape and are incarnated into the bodies of Cecil Kellaway and Veronica Lake.  The father, Daniel, is a thoroughly malevolent character who delights on setting buildings on fire etc.  Jennifer is still fixated on getting revenge on the latest iteration of Wooley, Wallace.  She begins the attack at a pre-wedding party for Wallace, now running for governor, and his horrible fiance Estelle (Susan Hayward).

After thoroughly mucking up the celebration, Dad suggests that Jennifer torture Wallace by making him fall in love with her.  She concocts a portion for the purpose but accidently winds up drinking it herself.  The rest of the story consists of her comical attempts to “help” Wallace and Dad’s efforts to foil her plans.  With Robert Benchley as Wallace’s friend.

I enjoyed this one for what it was after having looked forward to seeing it for years.  My reaction may have been tempered by my expectations.  Not bad, though and Kellaway is absolutely delightful.

Legend has it that Lake was so mean to March on set that he took to referring to the film as “I Married a Bitch.”  None of this discord appears on the screen.  Producer Preston Sturges had wanted to reprise Lake’s pairing with Joel McCrea in this film but McCrea refused to work with her again.  Poor Veronica, what a career she might have had if modern psych meds had been available!

Roy Webb was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Joe Dante on I Married a Witch – Trailers from Hell