Podcast Smackdown Companion: Gaslight, Since You Went Away...
Sunday, November 5, 2017 at 9:45PM Please read the Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1944 before listening please!
After voting in the Smackdown Nathaniel and the panel which included Mark Harris, Loren King, Farran Smith Nehme, Molly Pope, and Matthew Rettenmund got together to talk about the five films we watched and that era in Hollywood during World War II. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
Index (62 minutes)
00:01 Introductions of the Panel
03:00 Dragon Seed, yellowface, production trouble, and Oscar theories
11:50 Since You Went Away, war propaganda, and acting styles
24:00 None but the Lonely Heart, Cary Grant, Barrymore and "great lady" acting
38:50 Gaslight and Mrs Parkington
51:30 Our favorites of 1944 including Meet Me in St Louis and Double Indemnity
57:30 The forgotten Wilson, final Oscar notes and goodbyes.
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?
Gladys Cooper downing the drinks! Was she watching Dragon Seed, too?
FYC after listening...
Mark's "Five Came Back" as a miniseries on Netflix
Matthew's new nostalgia site Gr8ter Days
Molly co-stars in Bulldozer: The Ballad of Robert Moses (previews begin Nov 25th)
Farran's book "Missing Reel"
Reader Comments (13)
Somebody needs to make a gif of Gladys Cooper screaming in a drunken rage "I think we stink!"
nice mention of Bergman there, great winner in best actress. Great fun to listen to all the historical context from the panelists.
Murtada -- thank you, yes.
Tom -- if only gifs had sound! In ye olden times we would have made that into a soundbite and slipped it onto a mixtape.
I'm actually quite fond of WILSON. :)
That said, Best Picture in '44 is an impossibly close call for me among DOUBLE INDEMNITY, GASLIGHT and SINCE YOU WENT AWAY.
1944 had a lot of fantastic movies. Except GOING MY WAY, which I hate. Not sure when one of the panelists agreed with me.
Aw. I love Greer Garson, and all her films with Walter Pidgeon, especially Blossoms in the Dust. . The next year, she was much more down-to-earth in Valley of Decision, with a nice supporting turn from Gladys Cooper again. Even though she had this Great Lady quality, Garson was also charming and delightful in interviews, and later, in TV specials. And very philanthropic.
Loved this panel. Hope you guys do it again!
Pam -- i love Greer Garson too but i couldn't really argue with the statements that she sucks the oxygen up in scenes - she does have that GREAT LADY watch me quality.
I adore Greer Garson. She was the most popular dramatic actress at the box office in the mid-40s. When you went to a Greer Garson movie, there was an expectation. The Great Lady persona was all wrapped up in giving the public what they wanted. So not all of this is on Greer, even though her personality definitely held a noble, regal bearing. I wish she had been able to break out into more varied roles. The public couldn't handle her in That Forsyte Woman. As far as sucking up all the oxygen in the room, honestly often this is just another way of saying that this is the most interesting person there. I don't know who in the podcast defended Random Harvest, but damn that's a great melodrama. In my all time Top Ten.
"As far as sucking up all the oxygen in the room, honestly often this is just another way of saying that this is the most interesting person there."
Or it could mean she doesn't give the other actors a chance, or that there's nothing else going on her movie!
Yes, it could. That is why I used the word "often."
Wonderful discussion with many great points brought up about all the performances, although nothing will ever convince me that Jennifer Jones is anything other than a crappy actress made into a star by the love of a powerful man despite my fondness for her film.
I too am a big Greer Garson fan but that regal quality was innate so I'm not sure she could put it to the side and during this particular period I'm not sure she wanted to. Judy Garland's marvelous vignette in Ziegfeld Follies "A Great Lady Has an Interview" was written expressly for Garson who refused it with a chilly "No thank you" when it was presented to her. Which was all to the good since Judy had the sense of whimsy needed to make it work, but a few years later Greer had relaxed enough to cut a little loose in Julia Misbehaves.
This discussion also made me realize what a rockin' year Agnes Moorehead had. Four decent to excellent films....and Dragon Seed!
My favorite film of this year is Lifeboat (Tallulah Bankhead was robbed of a nomination!) but it was such a strong year. This would be the rest of my top ten alphabetically.
Between Two Worlds
Christmas Holiday
Double Indemnity
Laura
Meet Me in St. Louis
Since You Went Away
Summer Storm
The Uninvited
The Woman in the Window
I'll second the rec for THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, one of Fritz Lang's best American films.
Greer Garson was often the best thing in her movies. People on this site have called her the Meryl Streep of the 40's and I tend to agree with that. Meryl's last movies havone thing in common- she is the best and sometimes only interesting part of the movie. Greer Garson had similar movies where her performance was the easily the best part. I watched Blossoms in the Dust last night and she is the best part hands down.
Tom, I KNEW there was a reason Greer Garson was insufferable!