Smackdown '37 - The Podcast Companion
Friday, October 8, 2021 at 5:57PM by Nathaniel R
150 years ago on this very day the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 began. It raged for three days (October 8th-10th), ravaging most of the city and killing hundreds. In the blockbuster movie In Old Chicago (1937), which we discuss on this Podcast, the cause of the fire is pinned firmly on careless Mrs O'Leary (Alice Brady) and her cow. A new report from the AP for the fire's anniversary says that there's no evidence to suggest they were the culprits; the widely believed and Hollywood-endorsed story may have sprung from the virulent anti-Irish prejudice of the time. That's just a little anecdote to share since we're finally publishing the podcast portion of the 1937 Smackdown which is now officially the season finale (the other years we had planned to do will have to wait a few months)
Thanks to our guests Chelsea whose letterbox review of Stage Door is "hot girls unite", Pamela who has a hot take on the sexworker trope in Dead End, Tim who makes his case as the world's biggest Stella Dallas fan, and Boyd who shares a possibly apocryphal but amazing stunt double story from In Old Chicago. Hope you enjoy the conversation!
Chicago, In Old Chicago, Oscars (30s), Podcast, Smackdown, disaster epic
Reader Comments (9)
Loved listening to this. Such a great year, and loved all the movie suggestions mentioned at the end too.
Loved listening to this. Such a great year, and loved all the movie suggestions mentioned at the end too.
I'm glad Mrs. O'Leary is finally getting her due. I'm from Illinois, so I grew up hearing about her. Those accusations followed her to her grave even after the newspaper that first published the story took it back. The city council acquitted her of blame and her neighbor apparently had to wake her up so she didn't burn up herself.
But Hollywood went with the legend. Like San Francisco made the year before, both movies spun loose truths about the disasters they were about. I'm waiting for someone to make a movie about the hurricane party during Hurricane Camille saga. A woman pretended to be the only survivor of a hurricane party and said all of her friends died. In reality, there was no party and several did survive but no one believed them. One survivor even recounted hearing that his wife deserved to die since she was partying during a storm (no such party happened) The woman who claimed to be the only survivor later murdered her husband and at her trial her lawyer actually brought up this fictional story she made up as proof of a diminished mental state.
This was so fun! I loved the suggestion of Amanda Seyfried in a film about Sylvia Sidney. I'd watch it.
This was so fun! I loved the suggestion of Amanda Seyfried in a film about Sylvia Sidney. I'd watch it.
So much complaining about Louise Rainer’s win as Best Actress. The politics of Oscar were grossly manipulated by studio heads who sponsored all studio employees into the Academy and then used the votes to benefit studio pictures that needed the publicity.
In March 1938, the audience at the Baltimore Hotel in Los Angeles was expecting a win for Greta Garbo who had already picked up Best Actress prizes from the National Board of Review and The New York Film Critics Circle for Camille. Garbo herself chose not to attend the Oscar ceremony but left the country to travel in Europe with her reported, then lover Leopold Stokowski. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, journalists at the event reported an audible gasp in the audience when Rainer was named the victor.
The explanation is rooted in money. Both films were MGM productions. Camille opened on New Year’s Day and was an immediate box office smash, ultimately earning box office receipts double its budget.
The Good Earth was a massive undertaking that required a three year production. The film adapted with care from Pearl S. Buck’s Pulitzer Prize winner that was the nation’s best selling novel of 1931 and again in 1932. The Irving Thalberg production released mere weeks before the Oscars needed to recoup a nearly three million dollar investment. MGM used its voting block to support the studio film in need of shoring up its box office. Oscars went to both Rainer and Cinematographer Karl Freud who late in his career found great success developing the innovative filming techniques for I Love Lucy. The wins generated interest in the film but final numbers showed a loss of approximately 100K.
Really great conversation, glad we got to hear it at last. Congrats to all the panelists for a great segment! I esp love all the Bogart love - I heartily concur! Disappointed that the smackdowns have to end until '22, but totally makes sense. It'll be November before we know it! Where has the year gone?
Really great conversation, glad we got to hear it at last. Congrats to all the panelists for a great segment! I esp love all the Bogart love - I heartily concur! Disappointed that the smackdowns have to end until '22, but totally makes sense. It'll be November before we know it! Where has the year gone?
Great chat! I am currently watching Night Must Fall. Dame May Whitty is so good in this. My online movie club just watched her in Mrs. Miniver, and everyone just fell in love with her. What a great performer.
Our club might be watching Stage Door, because somebody brought up the picture and said how much she adored it. I've never seen it and I need to--that cast is just divine.
Marsha Mason is in the Midler version of Stella, playing the stepmom.
What a year--The Awful Truth, Dead End, A Star is Born...and yes, I do love The Good Earth.