Sea Wife (1957)

I started this post nearly two years ago, typing the beginning here and writing the rest on paper as I watched the film. But I never polished it up and posted it so when Realweedgiemidget Reviews announced the Regaling about Richard Burton Blogathon I thought it would be the perfect time to get the posted! Unfortunately I couldn't find my notes until I did some serious cleaning today which is why this post is a day late. Sorry Gill!

The other day (3-8-17) I watched Sea Wife (1957), which aired on TCM the night after Robert Osborne passed away to join the countless stars he loved and admired so much. After tearfully watching a message from Ben Mankiewicz before the film started, and the TCM Remembers video, the opening credits of Sea Wife began.

The opening song, "I'll Find You" sung by David Whitfield over a background of sparkling water, reminded me very much of a 1960s live-action Disney film. You can listen to the song below.

Starring Richard Burton (TCM's Star of the Month in March 2017) and Joan Collins, the film is based on the book Sea-Wyf and Biscuit by J. M. Scott. We meet Biscuit (Burton) en route to ?? by ship. He is contemplative (as only Burton can be) and after starring off into the distance for a few moments, he makes his way to telegraph office where he places an ad in the personal columns. He continues this upon his arrival at every major newspaper. All of them are addressed simply to "Sea Wife."

He finally receives a reply, from a patient in a rest home. Upon his arrival at the grand house and grounds he is met, not by the person he was expecting, but a wheelchair bound older man. They begin to talk and the old man becomes excited about some past event. We fade in time to a crowded boat in Singapore. The year, 1942.

It is the first night at sea. The boat, carrying well beyond it's weight limit of men, women, and children, is torpedoed by a Japanese sub. Panic ensues with people screaming and a fire raging in the engine room. A young girl clings to a nun in a black habit (Joan Collins) who, in order for the child to stay in the lifeboat, tosses off her habit to reveal a simple white shift. There is a bit of a "Titanic" moment as there aren't enough lifeboats to go around, one of them capsizing, spilling its' load into the sea. Some inflatable rafts are launched and the nun and a wounded Biscuit, who was also a passenger, climb onto an empty raft. Together they rescue and older man from the water - the same man we met at the rest home - and watch as their ship erupts in flames. As they are paddling away from the turbulence another passenger climbs aboard, a black man who (in an unfortunate stereotype found in many films) gazes a little too long at the nun who looks very appealing despite her short wet hair and oversized white gown (it helps when your eye shadow and false eyelashes make it through the ordeal).

The four drifters, rather than reveal their true identities, come up with nicknames for one another. The older man is called Bulldog, the black man becomes No. 4 as he was the fourth passenger, and the aforementioned Biscuit who is in charge of the rations: biscuits. They take turns watching, with Bulldog and the nun having a conversation about God when he catches her praying.

It is No. 4 who gives the nun her nickname  - he was the only one to see her onboard in her habit. As the three men watch her swimming No. 4 calls her "Sea Wife," another name for a mermaid.

After only two days adrift they are already halfway through their rations.  Bulldog begins talking about drinking blood to quench their thirst, causing tempers to flare. Their argument is cut short when Sea Wife hears something in the fog. They paddle toward the sound and come upon a submarine! Unfortunately it's Japanese. They want to know if there are any other American warships at sea. When the drifters declare they know nothing, the Japs refuse to give them food or water. They won't even take them aboard as prisoners, preferring to let them die at sea. Sea Wife begs for mercy however and they are given some provisions before the submarine slips back into the dark waters.

The next night, Biscuit gets poetic (What did you expect? It's Burton!). He is interrupted when their little raft is almost upset by a passing sub, knocking their provisions into the water! In the dark they are unable to retrieve it. The following morning they paddle along dejectedly. Some pelicans appear overhead and, when one lands in the water, the men kill it, upsetting Sea Wife who knows that the sight of the pelican means land is nearby.

Later a rainstorm comes up, at first quenching their thirst but then turning into a strong gale that tossed the raft about in the crashing waves. The sun finally comes back out however with everyone alive and land in sight. They paddle eagerly toward the shore but are carried toward some rocks, ripping their raft in the process.

After bathing in the fresh water and eating some fruit, Biscuit and Bulldog set out to do a little exploring and try, unsuccessfully, to build a structure. While Sea Wife and Biscuit are trying to catch fish, he finally asks her what her real name is. She evades the question, saying, "I'm not a real person here. None of us are. I think it's better if we keep the names we have."

Tempers flare again when No. 4 finds a machete and refuses to let anyone else touch it. He also privately questions why Sea Wife hasn't revealed her true identity to the other men, especially Biscuit who clearly has feelings for her.

They begin to work on a bamboo raft, as Biscuit thinks he has spotted land some 15 miles away. Once completed, they wait for the proper time to set sail. Biscuit accuses Sea Wife of running away from life and professes his love for her. Rather than reveal that she is a nun she simply says that she is promised to someone else.

Bulldog hides No. 4's machete and, while he's looking for it, tricks the others onto the raft and pushed it out to sea, leaving No. 4 behind. He knocks Biscuit out and reveals that he has the knife on board. No. 4 tries to swim out to the raft but is attacked and killed by a shark. Bulldog isn't even sorry, saying they couldn't have a knife, a girl, and a negro all on the same raft. They can have two, but not three (this is the part where I wish Sea Wife would push his racist you-know-what overboard but, being a nun she doesn't).

Biscuit is unconscious all that night and into the next day, when Sea Wife spots a ship. As dramatic music swells in the background we are suddenly back at the rest home where Biscuit is told the shocking news that Sea Wife died aboard the ship. But, as he walks away from the rest home, he passes two nuns. After he has passed, one of them turns around. She is Sea Wife. "No one looks at the face of a nun," she remarks to her companion, and they continue on their way.

This post is part of the Regaling about Richard Burton Blogathon hosted by Realweegiemidget Reviews. Check out everyone else's contributions by clicking the links below!

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Cinema Wedding Gowns: How To Marry a Millionaire (1953)

Today's wedding dress is probably on of the better known ones in cinema. It is the lace dress worn by Lauren Bacall in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).

Crafted of embroidered ecru lace in a floral pattern with iridescent sequins and a heavy satin lining, this exquisite mermaid style, off the shoulder gown was designed by Travilla.

The dress is fitted to just below the hip where a semi-circle piece is added to make it floor length and giving the dress movement. Three-quarter length sleeves and lace trim along the top complete the gown.

Rather than a veil, the dress is paired with a hat crafted of white sinamay and with piping swirled on the crown and hanging down the back. A small pearl necklace and bracelet are the perfect accessories.

 

The dress was later modified with the sleeves and ruffle across the front removed and straps added. It sold at Debbie Reynold's auction in 2011 for $8000, which was the start price. On another site it said that the modified dress was worn in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) but, while the design is nearly identical, the lace is different.

Netflix Monthly Movie: The Robe (1953)

 

The First Picture on the New Miracle Curved Screen !

 

The Greatest Story of Love, Faith, and Overwhelming Spectacle!

This months Netflix movie is The Robe (1953) starring Richard Burton, Victor Mature, and Jean Simmons. It tell the story of a Roman soldier Marcellus (Burton), whose job it was to crucify Jesus. He wins the robe worn by Christ by casting lots. But when he wears it, it puts a curse on him, or so he thinks. After the crucifixion, he is sent back to Rome, but he is haunted by what he has done. He goes back to Judea to find the Robe and destroy it, so as to destroy its hold on him. During his journey, he meets believers and followers of the dead Christ, Christians. One of these is his former Greek slave, Demetrious (Mature), who is now  follower of Peter. It is he who carries the robe of Christ.

You're afraid, but you really don't know the reason why. You think it's his robe that made you ill. But it's your own conscience, your own decent shame. Even when you crucified him you felt it.

Marcellus too becomes a Christian. Upon returning to Rome, Marcellus must now face Emperor Caligula.

Directed by Henry Koster (It Started with Eve, The Bishop's Wife, Harvey, The Singing Nun), this was the first movie filmed in Cinemascope and it is truly a spectacle. Complemented by glorious Technicolor and lavish sets of the powerful Roman Empire, it is a film well worth seeing. It is a long film - it runs 135 minutes - but it does not feel long. The sweeping and intense musical score by Alfred Newman complements the picture perfectly. This is a great film for the whole family to watch during this Holy Week.

Simon Peter (Michael Rennie) & Marcellus (Burton)

Trivia:

So sure was the studio of the films success, a sequel titled Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) was immediately put into action. Victor Mature reprised his role as the Greek slave and follower of Simon Peter. The film takes place right at the end of The Robe, in the year 53 AD. A third film was made about Simon Peter, The Big Fisherman (1959), with Howard Keel in the title role.

Burton & Mature

It is the first motion picture in Cinemascope to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award.

Diagram of the curved screen.

The second movie to begin shooting in Cinemascope, but the first to be released (Sept. 16, 1953). The first film to go before Cinemascope lens-equipped cameras was How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and was released Nov. 4, 1953.

Opening at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, September 24, 1953.

Acclaimed by many film historians as a triumph in the art of motion-picture music, Alfred Newman's reverent, intense film score failed to garner an Academy Award nomination for Best Score for a Dramatic Motion Picture (though Newman still took home an Oscar that night - for his adaptation of music for the Irving Berlin-Ethel Merman frolic, Call Me Madam (1953). Angered by the Academy voters' snub of Newman, distinguished film composer Franz Waxman, an Oscar winner for Sunset Blvd. (1950) and A Place in the Sun (1951), resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The film won Oscars for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration in the color category and Best Costumes, also in the color category. In addition to Best Picture, it was also nominated for Best Actor (Burton) and Best Color Cinematography. It also won a Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama.

At one point the producers considered making Marcellus older and casting Laurence Olivier.

Darryl F. Zanuck originally offered the role of Marcellus to Tyrone Power in a bid to get him to renew his contract with Fox. Power instead opted to star in the play "John Brown's Body" on Broadway.

Burt Lancaster was originally cast in the role played by Victor Mature.

Janet Leigh was considered for the role of Diana (Simmons).

Director Henry Koster chose Donald C. Klune - his 2nd assistant director - to play the role of Jesus in the film (his face is never seen). Klune would thus sign all the extras' vouchers and finish the paperwork while still in costume. He also had to eat lunch in his dressing room, as the studio thought it would be inappropriate for "Jesus" to eat in the commissary at Fox.

The opening shot after the title credits (and the background "red robe" curtain parts) is actually a scene lifted from this film's sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954).

The set of Cana, the village of Galilea where Marcellus Gallio meets Peter, was a redress of sets originally built for Algiers (1936), that had stood on the studio backlot for seventeen years. The sets were later used in Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) - this film's sequel - as the Christian neighborhood in Rome where Demetrius lives in the beginning of the movie. The well with the old broken columns can be easily recognized.

Based on the book of the same title by Lloyd C. Douglas

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

 

Daddy Long Legs (1955) has the distinction of not only being set in France (at least the first part) but also boasts a French leading lady, Leslie Caron (it's location was changed to France because of its her). Caron had been trained in ballet as a child, which led to her introduction into movies. A relative newcomer, Caron had already starred in six films, including her first film, An American in Paris (1951) with Gene Kelly (won Best Picture), and Lili (1953) for which she was nominated for Best Actress and won an BAFTA Award.

 

The year 1955 was a difficult one for both Caron and her co-star, Fred Astaire, personally. Caron had just divorced her first husband the year before and would marry again the following year. Astaire's beloved wife of 21 years died tragically from lung cancer just before filming started. Astaire, though he loved the script of Daddy Long Legs, offered to pay all of the production costs in order to drop out of the film. Luckily he changed his mind.

The story of Daddy Long Legs had already been made into a film several times, so the storyline was definitely not new. Based on Jean Webster's 1912 novel (which I highly encourage everyone to read as it is delightful and timeless - you can read it free here along with it's sequel Dear Enemy), it was made into a film first in 1919 with Mary Pickford and again in 1931 with Janet Gaynor. The 1935 Shirley Temple film, Curly Top, is based on the book as well.

The script was written by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, who are the parents of the well known and loved romantic comedy writer Nora (died 2012) and producer Delia Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail). Other films penned by the couple include Belles on Their Toes (1952) and Desk Set (1957).

Trailer

Daddy Long Legs was directed by Jean Negulesco, who also directed Nobody Lives Forever (1946) and Humoresque (1946) - two of my favorite John Garfield films, as well as Johnny Belinda (1948) which brought an Oscar to Jane Wyman, Titanic (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) which was filmed on location in Rome.

Julie's roommates

The basic plot of the film is this: a wealthy American, Jervis Pendleton III (Astaire), visits an orphanage and becomes taken with one of the orphans, Julie (Caron). He pays for her to go to a prestigious girls college in New England. His only stipulations are that she not know who her benefactor is, and that she write to him regularly.

I love her little writing desk!

To Julie it is all like a fairy tale. She is freed from her drab life at the orphanage and finally gets a room of her own and tons of beautiful clothes, instead of the blue gingham she always had to wear at the orphanage (someone had donated enough to cloth all of the children for years to come - even the handkerchiefs were blue gingham!). Julie addresses all of her letters to Daddy Long Legs. This comes from a description of his shadow that some of the other orphans saw and described to Julie.

Julie's letter's however, never actually reach Jervis. They are read and filed away by his secretary, played by the 4-times nominated brilliant character actress, Thelma Ritter. One day she angrily confronts her employer and tells him he must go and see Julie. It just so happens that Julie's roommate Linda, played by Terry Moore who had been in movies since 1940, is Jervis's niece. Therefore, he can come visit Julie without revealing who he is.

"The Sluefoot" sung by the Pied Papers with Ray Anthony and His Orchestra.

The day Jervis arrives is also the day of a big dance with the neighboring boys college. Naturally this gives Jervis a chance to dance with Julie. It's a great and catchy number. You can watch it below.

 

 

Despite their age differences (Astaire was 55 and Caron 23 at the time of filming), Jervis and Julie start to fall in love. In order to see more of each other, Jervis invites his niece and Julie to New York for a visit. Linda is unable to come so it ends up being just Julie.

 

"Something's Gotta Give," which was written because the film lacked a popular song, was filmed without first being rehearsed.

 

Eventually Julie discovers that Jervis and Daddy Long Legs are the same person and everything ends "Happily Ever After."

 

I really enjoyed this film. The only thing I did not like about it was the length. The movie runs for 126 minutes. This includes a 12 minute "Nightmare Ballet" and another extremely long "Daydream" sequence. I'm not a huge fan of musicals and so it was hard to sit through these two long parts, though the "Daydream" sequence had three very different sections for variety. My favorite dance was the very last one. It was short, simple, and beautiful and made for a perfect ending.

 

Start at 3:40

 

To read a more in-depth summary, check out this this post from The Blonde at the Film. Here's another Great Post with some behind-the-scenes and trivia about the film. You can read the book Daddy-Long-Legs and it's sequel, Dear Enemy for free on project Gutenberg.

 

 

Kay Nelson sketch for Leslie Caron costume in Daddy Long Legs (1955).

An early application of toreador pants, an international fashion trend

that would survive nearly a decade.

 

       

 

        

 

More College movies

 

Even now, I feel furious with myself because whenever there's a camera pointed towards me, my MGM training makes me smile. I don't like it. You can see it on all the people who came from that era because there was no question of them not smiling for the camera. Even Katharine Hepburn-- and God knows she was a dramatic actress -- if the camera is on her, she smiles.

 

 

 

 

This post is part of the France On Film Blogathon hosted by Serendipitous Anachronisms. Be sure to read all of the other posts!