Oh, Knitty! I hope the rest of your week goes well.
Jackie dear, for me there is something smarmy AND charming about David Wayne in Adam's Rib. Yes, he's weak-willed. Yes, he is self-seeking. Yes, he seems to have no plan of his own except to steal Amanda away from her husband. But when he hides behind Amanda at the brunt of the licorice gun, he is revealed as the wormy, directionless sycophant that we had suspected him of being all along. "Farewell, Amanda" is the tune that accompanies all his emotional hijinks and detours.
And as the strong-hearted but IRS-dodging beau of Monroe in How to Marry A Millionaire, he finally makes passes at a gal who wears glasses.
So I might sing a song of an unsung hero like David Wayne.
[u][color=#4000BF]Sue Sue Applegate[/color][/u] wrote:Jackie dear, for me there is something smarmy AND charming about David Wayne in Adam's Rib. Yes, he's weak-willed. Yes, he is self-seeking. Yes, he seems to have no plan of his own except to steal Amanda away from her husband. But when he hides behind Amanda at the brunt of the licorice gun, he is revealed as the wormy, directionless sycophant that we had suspected him of being all along. "Farewell, Amanda" is the tune that accompanies all his emotional hijinks and detours.
If you go to the 4:15 mark of Steve Hayes' review of "Adam's Rib" I loved David Wayne's exit here in this scene!
...And he did serious turns too, one of them being in "The Three Faces of Eve."
Gosh, Sue Sue, great choice! I just love David Wayne! I'm trying to think of my favorite role, I love him in both movies you mentioned. His scene with Marilyn on the plane is hilarious, and you really pegged him in Adam's Rib. He IS a worm! Somehow he makes you like him anyway. I also like him as Joseph Cotten's Irish buddy in Portrait of Jennie. Did you ever watch Ellery Queen back when it was on TV? He was irascible as Ellery's dad, the Inspector.
Did you know Wayne was the original Og in Finian's Rainbow? Man I'd give a million bucks to have seen him on stage.
I had a friend like that! Used to flirt with me OUTRAGEOUSLY all the time I was married to my first husband. When I got divorced I asked him out to see a movie, not even seriously a date, and he freaked. Told me his partner wouldn't like it! I never did meet the partner, don't know if it was a guy or a girl, I just wanted to go to the movies, dang it! It would have been nice if he had told me, and we'd have been friends still if he had. Instead he ran. No comments please... I'm not bad looking!
Now because you mentioned How To Marry a Millionaire, you made me think of poor ألكسندر دارسي, better known as Alexander D'Arcy, who was actually Egyptian. For me, he's the equivalent of Gail Patrick for us ladies. Gorgeous, hunky (gosh I love to look at him), but kind of full of himself, and somehow, never quite as good as Cary Grant. Or Roland Young. HUH? She went back to Roland Young? How's THAT ever gonna happen in real life?
You know how I have lines that I just wait to hear in a movie, right? Well in "The Awful Truth" Your D'Arcy has one of my favorite lines. I love his mocking jovialness to the leading man when he says:
"Why Mr. Warriner. You're out of your Continental mind." And he gives a little laugh and off he goes. Then the kicker is Irene Dunne mocking Cary Grant also: "You know that's right what he says about your Continental mind," almost as a throwaway. Love it.
Mavis, that was a great exit! Loved it then and now. It always makes me laugh.
Jacks, Alexander D'Arcy just oozes that appeal. I would almost run off to Vegas with him for the weekend.
David, good comment about Wayne's intents. And his timing with Hepburn and Tracy. Their dialogue just click-click-clicks along like a little ticker tape.
While watching "My Favorite Wife" at the moment I would like to nominate the lovely Gail Patrick to this wonderful thread. She is having some dour moments with both Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.
She was most identified, however, in manipulative second leads while usually tangling with the star femme as the "other woman," haughty socialite or scheming villainess.
[u]JACK FAVELL[/u] wrote:Maven - take your time, take your time! I can't wait to see your writeups on Gail and Melvyn... absolutely great choices...I thought for sure you'd include Eve!
My first thought jumped to Eve Arden. But I know she's the great Marlin of Bridesmaids and since I'm always Johnny-0n-The-Spot, I figgered I'd give others a chance to extoll and expound on The Lady Eve.
Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I have not seen all the movies of my choice of actors: Gail Patrick and Melvyn Douglas. But my general sense of movie history tells me...these are truly bridesmaids.
For me, bridesmaids are folks who surely would be chosen to walk down the aisle, as long as another leading man or leading lady weren’t in the vicinity. Reading The Ingenue’s post of Jack Oakie’s story of Gail Patrick shines a different light on her: ( http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... 31#p133431and if you're reading my post Ingenue, who IS your mystery avatar? I'm intrigued. ) She was sensitive. I wonder how Gail Patrick felt playing all these haughty snooty ice queens. Hey...and give up show biz?
I figure it like this: ANYONE can steal a man from Gail Patrick.
Even Red River’s little Shug can steal a man from Gail Patrick. How do you settle into the role of “never getting The Guy”? She’s beautiful, confident and smart. Ha! Maybe that’s why she didn’t get the guy. All our heroine has to be is down-to-earth and regular, and the leading man is hers for the asking. Gail Patrick serves as the dark contrast to That Girl. A cocktail party or country club dance is one thing; but if you think you’re putting an apron on Patrick and saddling her with a passel of no-neck, mealy-mouth kids...think again. ( But I suspect Patrick could warm up that ice and be very maternal; it's just that Hollywood wasn't going to really give her that chance onscreen. Once you had your "stock and trade" cemented up there on the silver screen, and in the public's eye, you were pretty much saddled with that. )
I remember seeing her in “MURDERS IN THE ZOO” years after seeing her in films she made later; I was shocked to see her play “nice.” I thought for sure she was probably killing every woman who entered the zoo. I freely admit: I've been conditioned.
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In “MY MAN GODFREY” she plays Lombard’s older sister; prettier, smarter, not so very nice. The contrast was pretty stark opposite Lombard’s ditzy good-naturedness.
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In “MY FAVORITE WIFE” I actually felt sorry for her. In this film, she marries Cary Grant, the big kahuna of Leading Men In The Movies. She does so in good faith to love and honor. But Grant’s first wife ( Irene Dunne ) comes back after seven ship-wrecked years on an island with tall, strapping Randolph Scott. ( Nice work if you can get it. ) Patrick gets kicked to the curb, but not without the ( so - called ) comic hi-jinks of Grant not being forthright and honest with her. Poor Gail...on her honeymoon and her new husband’s not being very...“husbandly.”
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Two weeks ago I came in the middle of Shirley Temple’s “KATHLEEN” and I saw Patrick smiling and being nice to the growing curly top. I immediately wanted to call Child Welfare Services. Yeah, it was just a matter of time before Patrick’s claws came out. She was being nice to Temple alright, but just to get to her real prey: father Herbert Marshall. ( Men are soooo blind. ) But Patrick is unknowingly competing with the open-faced beauty of Laraine Day. The two have a dilly of an argument in one scene, standing toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye with each other. ( You go, girl! Laraine that is. ) Men usually walk in with Gail Patrick, but they leave with the other nicer girl. Need I say more? It’s forty-love. Game, Set and Match for Ms. Day. ( Pssst! You can’t be mean to Shirley Temple. )
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There’s “LOVE CRAZY” and “THE DOCTOR TAKES A WIFE” where she doesn’t wind up with the guy, but my favorite is, of course, “STAGEDOOR.”
In this classic, Ginger Rogers catches the eye of Broadway Lothario Adolphe Menjou. ( Could he be considered a bridesmaid as well, even with his Ladies Man track record? ) Menjou has recently squired around Gail Patrick and now no longer calls for her by sending his car to pick her up. I love how Patrick handles the new competition. She’s just fine with it. She has her ermines and minks to keep her company and knows what Rogers’ fate will be with a man like him. She doesn’t get all catty and defensive. Ha! Gail Patrick doesn’t even break a sweat. She’s knowing and sophisticated. Cool as a cucumber. Who knew cucumbers could be so beautiful?
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Someone on YouTube decided to create a video for her:
[youtube][/youtube]
If you have five minutes, please show Gail Patrick some love by checking it out. I think she would have been better served by the video's editor by showing her in action - throwing barbs and daggers with her withering looks. She is quite imposing. Tall, regal looking. Beautiful. Dark. Alto voiced, with eyes like a cobra's eyes. Centered. She doesn't flit about. She's like a cobra who stands her ground. ( Her sister under the mink: Gale Sondergaard. ) A better video might show her mixing it up with the best of Hollywood’s leading ladies...
AWESOME Maven! Gosh, when I say take your time, I don't mean wait for weeks to post! I went through withdrawal waiting for this one.
I feel sorry for Gail too in My Favorite Wife. It's not her fault! Cary won't tell her what's wrong! But she walks that line - we KNOW she's not the understanding type, so it's OK for Cary to treat her the way he does. Sort of....
She is pretty much evil incarnate in My Man Godfrey, everything we hate about snooty girls. And yet, there's that scene at the end where she eats crow, sincerely apologizes, and we think maybe she's got a chance to change from the spoiled rich girl to someone who actually makes a difference in the world. I also love her mocking tones when she is so sure she can tempt Godfrey, or when she's rubbing in Godfrey's professional demeanor to poor Irene.
But I think I'm with you on Stage Door being her best, most sparkling performance. She and Ginger are like the Betty and Veronica of the place.... and together they are the most entertaining out of all the girls, and that's saying a hell of a lot. I wait for them to come together and belt each other, verbally.
Isn't Gail also in that early sound picture, the one with Esther Ralston, about the feud in the hill country? She's totally nice in that one and it's completely weird to see her before fangs.
[u]JackFavell[/u] wrote:AWESOME Maven! Gosh, when I say take your time, I don't mean wait for weeks to post! I went through withdrawal waiting for this one.
< Gulp! > Even Rome wasn't built in a day.
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I feel sorry for Gail too in My Favorite Wife. It's not her fault! Cary won't tell her what's wrong! But she walks that line - we KNOW she's not the understanding type, so it's OK for Cary to treat her the way he does. Sort of....
I really got the impression that if he calmly told her his wife came back...that for the sake of the kids ( you can always hide behind the kids ) it’d be best if their marriage was annulled. ( Of course, that'd be the end of the movie. ) But this way with the hijinks and lies, to face Patrick after all that, well, of course, he’d reap the whirlwind.
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She is pretty much evil incarnate in My Man Godfrey, everything we hate about snooty girls. And yet, there's that scene at the end where she eats crow, sincerely apologizes, and we think maybe she's got a chance to change from the spoiled rich girl to someone who actually makes a difference in the world. I also love her mocking tones when she is so sure she can tempt Godfrey, or when she's rubbing in Godfrey's professional demeanor to poor Irene.
It’s been too long since I’ve seen this movie. I've got to give it another chance. ( The whole family's is a little too screwball-y for me. )
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But I think I'm with you on Stage Door being her best, most sparkling performance. She and Ginger are like the Betty and Veronica of the place.... and together they are the most entertaining out of all the girls, and that's saying a hell of a lot. I wait for them to come together and belt each other, verbally.
They ARE great together aren't they, "Hold on, gangrene just came in.” ( or something like that. ) I’m still lovin’ the Rogers / Hepburn sparring. But the way Gail Patrick carries herself in that house, is she even going out for auditions or just trying to land StageDoor Johnnies??
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Isn't Gail also in that early sound picture, the one with Esther Ralston, about the feud in the hill country? She's totally nice in that one and it's completely weird to see her before fangs.
Girl, you’re good! That’s right. She’s in "To The Last Man.” And check out this picture I screencapped from the YouTube video of the movie:
Look who Gail Patrick is holding in her arms:
Gail Patrick - Shirley Temple:
* "To The Last Man" * "Kathleen"
Shirley Temple - Cary Grant:
* "The Bachelor & the BobbySoxer"
Cary Grant - Randolph Scott:
* "Hot Saturday" * "My Favorite Wife"
Randolph Scott - Gail Patrick:
* "To The Last Man" * "Murders In the Zoo" * "My Favorite Wife"
That degree of separation list is unreal! From one to the other to the other....
They ARE great together aren't they, "Hold on, gangrene just came in.” ( or something like that. ) I’m still lovin’ the Rogers / Hepburn sparring. But the way Gail Patrick carries herself in that house, is she even going out for auditions or just trying to land StageDoor Johnnies??
Ha! I completely agree, she's out to nab herself a producer so she can live a life of luxury, never have to lift a finger again. And you know what? I bet she gets one! Love that gangrene line.
Linda Shaw: If you were a little more considerate of your elders, maybe Mr. Powell would send his car for you someday. Of course, he would probably take one look at you and send you right back again, but then you have to expect that.
Jean Maitland: Is that so?
Linda Shaw: Do you know, I think I could fix you up with Mr. Powell's chauffeur. The chauffeur has a very nice car too.
Jean Maitland: Yes, but I understand Mr. Powell's chauffeur doesn't go as far in his car as Mr. Powell does.
Linda Shaw: Even a chauffer has to have an incentive!
Jean Maitland: Well, you should know!
Jean Maitland: Hey, that's a kind of good-lookin' piece of jackrabbit you got there.
Linda Shaw: Oh, it's just a little trinket my "Aunt Susan" sent over.
Jean Maitland: Say, I think it's very unselfish of those little animals to give up their lives to keep other animals warm.
Linda Shaw: You know, they're very smart little animals. They never give up their lives for the wrong people.
Jean Maitland: Well, you understand the rodent family much better than I do.
Just brilliant! But I have to admit, the moment I wait for doesn't have Gail, doesn't have Ginger, doesn't even have Eve in it. I just love Lucy when she wheedles poor disturbed Grady Sutton into slipping a little chicken into the lamb. Go figure! I think part of it is that Lucy approaches her role as if she were a con man, and also I simply can't believe there was a time when lamb was cheaper than chicken....
I never did meet the partner, don't know if it was a guy or a girl, I just wanted to go to the movies, dang it! It would have been nice if he had told me, and we'd have been friends still if he had. Instead he ran. No comments please... I'm not bad looking!
< Gulp! > 
