Sunday with Renoir, Ray, and a Double Shot of O'Hara

In an effort to free up some space on the DVR, Filmbrain sat down on a lazy Sunday afternoon and began catching up on some of the films he recorded in the past month. First up -- two somewhat rare titles (for Filmbrain at least) that were shown as part of TCM's Maureen O'Hara day a few weeks back: Jean Renoir's This Land is Mine (1943) and Nicholas Ray's A Woman's Secret (1949). Both interesting, but far from the best these two directors have to offer.

Described by Renoir as "my own propaganda", This Land is Mine envisions life in a French village under the Nazi occupation. Charles Laughton plays Albert Lory -- schoolteacher, coward, and mama's boy -- a man far too afraid to speak up against the occupation, even when forced to tear pages out of the history books he teaches with. He's secretly in love with fellow teacher Louise Martin (Maureen O'Hara), who is engaged to collaborator George Lambert (George Sanders), even though her brother Paul is an active member of the resistance. The film traces Laughton's rise from zero to hero -- driven by both his love for O'Hara and his realization at what must be done to stand up against the occupation. Renoir's motivation was to create a portrait of the French that differed from the typical Hollywood depiction of the time, and to show the difficult choices that every French citizen was forced to make during the occupation -- specifically exploring why some opted for self-preservation over resistance. His case is strengthened by his decision to depict the Nazis not as leather-coat-wearing, "Vee haff vays..."-threatening caricatures, but as genuinely human (though seriously deluded) followers of the tenets of National Socialism. Walter Slezak (in what might very well be his greatest performance) is perfect as Major Erich von Keller, overseer of the town. His calm manner, seemingly compassionate concern, and powerfully persuasive arguments make his character that much more frightening. (A disturbing execution scene serves to remind us what lies behind that facade.) Though as good as Slezak, O'Hara and Sanders are, the film is really all about Laughton. His growth from sniveling coward to self-sacrificing local hero is handled beautifully, and while Dudley Nichols' screenplay is a bit ham-fisted at times, Laughton's final, moving courtroom speech ranks up there as one of the all-time best. In fact, the final third of the film is reason alone to seek it out. Sure, it's no Grand Illusion, but an interesting item nonetheless for Renoir fans.

The sophomore effort from the great Nicholas Ray, A Woman's Secret was a film Ray had no desire to direct. Tricked into making it by Dore Schary, the film was little more than a way to justify the salaries being paid to the cast and crew, who were all under contract with the studio. Best described as a soap-opera-noir, it tells the story of Marian Washburn (Maureen O'Hara), a singer who takes on a young protégé (Gloria Grahame) after she is diagnosed with a rare throat infection that puts an end to her own career. Estrellita (as the young singer is called), is a dim-witted innocent who takes little pleasure in her newfound fame, and resists the constant pressure put on her by Marian. As the film opens, she announces that she is giving it all up. Moments later, a shot is fired and Estrellita is rushed to the hospital. Marian confesses to the crime, but quasi-love interest and songwriter Luke Jordan (Melvyn Douglas) refuses to believe her story. He enlists the help of inspector Jim Fowler (Ray regular Jay Flippen) and in a series of flashbacks attempts to unravel the truth. The film's saving grace is the screenplay, which was written by Citizen Kane co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz. Chock full of those great Mank zingers, it breathes life into a film which, quite frankly, is DOA. The best lines are given to Flippen, and the fast paced back-and-forth banter between him and Douglas, or better yet his wife Mary (Mary Philips), is the kind of snappy, witty dialog Hollywood no longer cares for, and the kind of writing that makes this screenwriter weak in the knees. Watching the film, it's almost impossible to imagine that this is the same director who would bring us They Live By Night just one year later. Still, as contract films go, this is quite entertaining, and there's a nice chemistry between the three leads. O'Hara certainly has more to do here than she does in This Land is Mine, but it's still only a hint at what she's capable of. Though Filmbrain was enamored with Mank's screenplay, the drama in A Woman's Secret is frighteningly thin, and it's easily the weakest Ray he's seen so far (with just about five more to go). Both This Land is Mine and A Woman's Secret are unavailable on DVD in Region-1, though the former is available on DVD in France and Japan. Both films show up occasionally on TCM.

Comments

[Campaspe]

Hee! I wrote quite a bit about Maureen last month, myself. O'Hara in the air. I really like "This Land is Mine" despite the script's lack of subtlety at times. Laughton has the best part, but I thought Sanders was great, too. And didn't Slezak's part remind you a bit of how he played his early scenes in "Lifeboat"?

[Flickhead]

A friend who rarely comments on blogs sent me this e-mail which I felt was worth sharing:

Filmbrain's review of "This Land is Mine" is seriously lacking. Ever see it? If not, you should. It's well worth seeing. It would be if only for the triumvirate of Renoir, Dudley Nichols and Laughton. But the subject matter makes it vital.

I can't imagine anyone watching that film in this era and not realizing that the thesis isn't simply the importance of standing up to tyranny, but that terrorism is a valid weapon in the endeavor. They call it "sabotage" in the movie but it's the same thing - attacks on the German occupiers that also kill civilians. The question raised is whether it's a legitimate weapon, even if it kills innocents. Laughton's speech at the end leaves no doubt - it's an emphatic "Yes!"

One could try to argue that they're talking about the Nazi's, and the Nazi's are the exception. But one man's Nazi is another man's American Imperialist or Communist or Infidel. It's a film that now raises a lot of questions which we should find extremely uncomfortable to answer.

[Filmbrain]

While I don't disagree with anything your friend says about the film's subject matter, it is quite lightweight when compared to Renoir's major works. The direction is pretty flat, and even Renoir himself said that the intention was to get the message out to as many people as possible. It's a piece of propaganda, and far from subtle.

Sure, it's worth seeing, particularly for the performances of Laughton and Slezak. But forgive me if I don't find it all that profound.

[Tom]

Yeah, Nick Ray thought the working screenplay for
A WOMAN'S SECRET was hopeless, though he was friends with Herman Mankiewicz. Perhaps the one
blessing or curse, depending on your point of view, to come out of this film was that Nick met
Gloria Grahame, who would become his second wife
and the mother of his second son. Ironically,
A WOMAN'S SECRET was the first Nicholas Ray film
to be released, though it was probably his worst.
THEY LIVE BY NIGHT was the first film Nick Ray directed, but Howard Hughes postponed its release
when he took over RKO Pictures.

[Tom Farrell]

Yeah, Nick Ray thought the working screenplay for
A WOMAN'S SECRET was hopeless, though he was friends with Herman Mankiewicz. Perhaps the one
blessing or curse, depending on your point of view, to come out of this film was that Nick met
Gloria Grahame, who would become his second wife
and the mother of his second son. Ironically,
A WOMAN'S SECRET was the first Nicholas Ray film
to be released, though it was probably his worst.
THEY LIVE BY NIGHT was the first film Nick Ray directed, but Howard Hughes postponed its release
when he took over RKO Pictures.

[Filmbrain]

Ah...I didn't realize that They Live By Night was released afterwards. Thanks for that.

I remember reading a quote from Ray about working with Grahame on the film -- something about how he was fascinated by her, but didn't actually like her.

[burritoboy]

Considering what we know about the Grahame / Ray marriage, the meeting of the two on the set of A Woman's Secret would be called a curse. Of major magnitude.

[GeorgeHarveyBone]

Aw, but the Grahame-Ray marriage also gave us IN A LONELY PLACE.

And then she went and married his son.