Larry--Thanks for adding your comments about Loretta Young and her family here. What style of decor did her mother Gladys lean toward? I have read that she was quite successful as an interior decorator.
Christy--Thank you so much for all those Loretta links, the surface of which I have only begun to scratch.
I would add my praise to others' enjoyment of Life Begins and found my movie-hatin' sis's comment that "the movie could have been used as an argument for birth control or chastity" was pretty accurate (and funny). Even though it was startling to see a film that was truly an ensemble piece, trying for verisimilitude and less glamour in that period, it was Loretta Young's sensitive performance (which was not affected by that horrible blond wig) and that of Eric Linden that became more moving by the end of the film, even though I knew I was being completely manipulated. That throb in his voice always made Linden sound as though he was about to burst into tears, but that quality was essential to his part here. His natural tendency toward anguish fit the role of husband of an expectant convict (Loretta, who seemed to be the least likely felon ever) perfectly in this case. This was enhanced by the fact that neither half of this couple looked older than 19 to me. Here are some clips from youtube of the two of them, which also features the great Aline MacMahon at her salty best:
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Did anyone spot an incredibly youthful-looking Paul Fix in the first moments of this movie as an anxious Dad? Did Preston Sturges have more than one line? I loved kingrat's comment about Gilbert Roland's unmistakable leading man air in his brief moment on screen, even though he never spoke a word of English.
I winced when Glenda Farrell's character kept guzzling gin (fetal alcohol syndrome may not have been known by that name, but the effects were already noted medically)--but kept hoping that she would give at least one of her twins to the heartbroken Gilbert Roland and Dorothy Tree's Italian couple. I also wondered if Farrell actually named the twins after her favorite low down tune, Frankie (Francesca?) and Johnnie eventually when motherhood softened her brassiness. Elizabeth Patterson's heartless adoptee sure was enough to make anyone sober up. BTW, Patterson's equally snobby friend was played by Mary Philips (aka Mrs. Humphrey Bogart the Second & a very well known theatrical actress in her day).
Loose Ankles (1930) made me think that the filmmakers behind this early talkie may have been dipping into some of the illicit hooch that is central to the plots of such films. Frothy is too substantial a word to describe this story of a sassy heiress (Loretta Young, whose shapely ankle--complete with slave bracelet--is featured prominently in the first shot). Her inheritance of scads of moolah is dependent on some stodgy relatives (led by Louise Fazenda and her enormous bosom, which did not prevent her from demonstrating some comical wrestling holds). I loved the gaggle of gigolos who tried to tutor the comically virginal Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in the art of courting older, monied women, but best of all was the genteel yet decadent night club with the circus theme (and a female cat being tamed by guy with a whip). This is the best night club I've seen since Madam Satan (1930), though much less lavish than the DeMIlle film.
Too bad Loretta's cousin in the film and companion in crime, Inez Courtney, the gamine flapper with the voice like a rusty gate, didn't have a better written role in her debut film. A bit of a Broadway musical legend in the '20s, Inez was in the original casts of Good News, Spring Is Here, and one of the last Ziegfeld shows, America's Sweetheart, featuring immortal tunes from Rodgers & Hart, Henderson, DaSylva and Brown. She went on to appear in over fifty movies, usually as an annoying pal to the heroine with allegedly comic undertones. You can see Inez smoking furiously in this clip set in the night club while Loretta and Doug bill and coo a bit:
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I Like Your Nerve (1931), teaming Young and young Doug again, was another head-scratcher in terms of plot and motivations, with a story about a forced marriage set in a mythical Latin American country with a script that seemed composed of discarded bits and pieces of Rio Rita, The Coconuts, and (hey!) Loose Ankles. Maybe the movie would have made more sense if the first scene, which IMDb says was missing was included:
The best part of the film: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., whose only assets in this movie appear to be a grand looking touring car, a well-cut blazer set off by some dazzling white flannel pants, and a beaming smile. He only seems to have been directed to use that smile as much as possible at all times, even if it hurts. I believe that Warner Brothers thought that Loretta and Doug could have been a good team on screen, though I don't think these two charmers could have done it without some better scripts.The opening scene is missing in the TCM print, according to synopses reported in contemporary reviews. In that scene, the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. character is a bookworm who goes to Central America when advised to do so by a fortune-teller. The missing scene may account for the TCM print being shorter than the reported running time.
