Film fans always talk about
The Omen or
The Bad Seed as if the characters that those kids played were truly disturbing children. Poppycock, I say.
So what if Damien's presence on earth was a sign of the coming apocalypse and if Rhoda Penmark's blond sweetness masked a murderous soul? 1940s child star
Margaret O'Brien could act rings around those kids with one pigtail tied behind her back, break your heart neatly in half in the process, and make you wish that you could thank her for that privilege. When seven of her films air this Friday, January 15th on TCM in honor of her 73rd birthday, you may be able to catch at least a few of them. While I'm sure we'd all like to call in sick and spend a gray January Friday in the company of Ms.
O'Brien, for the purposes of this brief piece, I've tried to narrow my focus a bit, looking at one extraordinary film out of several exceptional ones featuring this actress. And yes, friends and readers, spoilers abound...
Let's see if I can describe the disquieting effect of
The Unfinished Dance adequately for those who haven't been exposed to it. The formula for
The Unfinished Dance (1947-Henry Koster), a rarely seen film that will be aired at 1:15pm on January 15th, is a heady brew, composed of mysterious elements drawn from this creative vein:
Take the early adolescent intensity of Velvet Brown in
National Velvet (1944), as played by
Elizabeth Taylor, (who was apparently channeling Diana the Huntress and Aphrodite on the half shell). Carefully mix in some of the Machiavellian deviousness of Mary Tilford in
These Three (1936), as performed with a chilling calculation by
Bonita Granville, then add a generous dash of
Marcia Mae Jones' vulnerable roller coaster personality when she played Renfrew to
Granville's manipulative Draculetta in that same film. Don't forget to add some atmosphere to the movie that borrows from the hormonally tense
Mädchen in Uniform (1931 or 1958 versions) and, for added measure, just a little soupçon of
Louise Brooks' "cheerful" school days in
The Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). For artistic atmosphere borrow a bit of
Maria Ouspenskaya's hauteur as a ballet
martinetinstructor in
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) and
Waterloo Bridge (1940).
Blend these explosive, decidedly distaff ingredients with care, seasoning with a dollop of schmaltz (courtesy of
Danny Thomas as
O'Brien's hapless guardian) --and you'll have some idea of the potent power of this unhinged but fascinating MGM movie set in the ballet world "...of those who love, of those who hate--
and one who loved too much …"
...more on the TCM Movie Morlocks
An appreciation of fellow cast member in The Unfinished Dance, Cyd Charisse, can be seen here on this blog.
5 comments:
Hi Moira- just stopping by to say you have been award the Kreativ Blogger Award- details here. And also to comment- I hadn't thought too much of Margaret O'Brien beyond Meet Me in St Louis - that is to say, I never sought her films out. But in December I had DVR'ed The Canterbury Ghost and thoroughly loved it. That and your post and Laura's over at Miscellaneous Musings have demanded I make amends and "rediscover" her. Thanks for a great post.
Wow, J.C.,
Thanks so much. Now I shall have to try harder to live up to this award. Where did I leave that bushel of creativity? Maybe it's filed under "K"...I'll work on the followup to this. I hope that you have a chance to enjoy more of Margaret O'Brien soon. Don't miss "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes". She just kills in that one.
Appreciatively,
Moira
The fun thing about Rhoda in The Bad Seed is that it is so much fun to imitate her. When I was a kid, it was a movie my mother, brother and I always watched together and re-enacted. (Same with Night of the Hunter.) This was before VCRs, so you had to catch 'em on late night TV.
Gee, Panavia, you were a much tougher kid than I was. If I had seen Night of the Hunter as a girl, I'd still be sleeping with the light on (and a shotgun under the bed).
I did see The Bad Seed then and still haven't gotten over what happened to Henry Jones. Margaret O'Brien was much closer to my own experience so I guess it didn't trouble me as much to see her do something terrible and then eat herself alive with guilt (early Catholic education makes this a highly effective teaching tool as a movie too). LOL
Thank goodness for VCRs, DVRs and On Demand nowadays. As ever, thanks for stopping by, you movie minx.
I'm really sorry I missed the O'Brien day on TCM - I had to work and forgot to set the DVR! She can do no wrong on film.
Maybe I wasn't scared by Night of the Hunter because watching them was always a family affair and we were accustomed to a lot of intra family entertainment re-enacting scenes and discussion. Or it's just my particular/peculiar imagination.
One day, we got a huge pile of excelsior and immediately lit some on fire so we could "do Leroy". No one was injured in the re-enactment. The rest of the excelsior was used in the stable.
Before VCRs, you had to wait on the pleasure of the broadcaster to see a movie again, so meanwhile, you could re-enact your favorite scenes. (My mother said when she was in school the kids ran up and down the stairs yelling "Charge!" like in Arensic and Old Lace. They also imitated Tommy Udo pushing the wheelchair lady down the stairs.)
As kids, the movie that *really* scared my brother and I was "The Innocents". Remember when Quint appears in the window out of darkness ? While watching this, there was a large french window next to the TV and it was so easy to imagine the same thing in our own house. To this day, I can give my brother the heebee jeebies just by appearing quietly by his side in the dark. Since we live in the country, this is very easy to do. Bwaaaahahahaha!
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