Princess O'Rourke (1943)

Princess O'Rourke, from 1943, is a sweet little romantic comedy starring Olivia deHavilland and Robert Cummings, with Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, and Charles Coburn taking on supporting roles.  Garnering an Academy Award win for Norman Krasna's screenplay, Princess O'Rourke is somewhat like Roman Holiday, in that it is the story of a royal-blooded heroine falling in love with a common man.

Having been run out of her European country due to Nazi activity, Princess Maria (Olivia deHavilland), along with her uncle/guardian (Charles Coburn), is living in a New York hotel. Because Maria is of an age where she is expected to fulfill her duty to marry and have children---boys preferably---eligible men are continually calling on her.  Not attracted to any of the "acceptable" men, Maria is rather bored and unhappy; deciding that a change of scenery might do wonders for Maria's state of mind, Uncle arranges for her to visit a ranch in California.

Flying under the name of Mary Williams, our lovely heroine, in the hopes of catching a few z's and sleeping through the flight, downs far too many sleeping pills.  With bad weather keeping the plane in New York, Maria/Mary has no opportunity to sleep off the effects of the pills, thus, as everyone deplanes, she is out cold.  Feeling responsible for the woman, yet unable to determine where she belongs, pilot Eddie O'Rourke (Robert Cummings) takes her for coffee at a local diner.  Thinking that the slightly-dazed lady before him is simply in need of a good night's sleep, the waiter slips a sleeping pill into her coffee, causing her to pass out completely. Not knowing what else to do, Eddie takes the sleeping beauty to his apartment, where she spends the night.

Eddie and Maria begin seeing each other, but she doesn't tell him the truth about herself.  In fact, she invents a story which has Eddie believing she is a refugee, bound for a housemaid job in California. He asks her to marry him, but much as Maria loves Eddie and wants to marry him, she is pretty sure her uncle would not approve of a marriage between them, so she attempts to break things off.  Unbeknownst to Maria, however, her bodyguard has been following her and reporting back to Uncle, and when Uncle discovers that Eddie is one of nine boys and that his father was one of eleven boys, he embraces such a union.  Only thing is, the couple now has to run their romance according to the rules and regulations of Uncle and royal proclamation...and that poses a problem.  How it all plays out is the balance of the film.



While not a spectacular film, Princess O'Rourke is definitely cute, enjoyable, and loads of fun. Olivia deHavilland is sweet and well-suited to this role---and she's stunningly beautiful! Robert Cummings is delightful.  Jack Carson, who is absolutely not a favorite, is out of character here---and for that reason, he doesn't bug me like he usually does.  Jane Wyman, also not a favorite, is enjoyable in her role as well.  And Charles Coburn is terrific.  I got a huge kick out of him, especially as he reveled in the number of male offspring in O'Rourke's family, calling it a "veritable goldmine of boys." Again, this isn't a great movie...it's just a sweet, solid, 3-star film, well worth viewing.

The film is out on DVD, so it should be fairly easy to track down.  Additionally, it is on the TCM schedule for Saturday, August 24th, at 9:45 a.m. (ET).

Happy viewing!!

All That Heaven Allows (4 stars)

With tomorrow being Rock Hudson's birthday, I thought a re-watch of one of my favorites of his films (and a re-working of one of my earliest posts) was in order.  All That Heaven Allows---a 1955 Douglas Sirk romantic drama pairing Rock with Jane Wyman---is a tender, touching film which explores the theme of romance between an older woman and a younger man. I am totally not a Jane Wyman fan and would have preferred someone else to have been in this role. (Susan Hayward comes to mind as one who I would have loved here, and given that she was only three years younger than Jane Wyman, her age would have worked in this role.) On the other hand, I think Rock Hudson is fabulous. He is beyond gorgeous at this point in his career, and he and the sweet storyline are the reasons I like this movie so much.

Jane Wyman plays Carrie Scott, a socially prominent, middle-aged widow, with college-age children. (You never really know how long she has been a widow, but you assume it's not been too long.) With her children off at college, Carrie is quite lonely, and even though her country club friends try to keep her active, there is still something missing in Carrie's life.

One day, while she is lunching alone on her terrace, Carrie makes the acquaintance of Ron Kirby, her new gardener, who tells her that his father has died and that he has taken over the business. Several years younger than Carrie, Ron is a simple, down-to-earth man totally at ease with himself and his position in society. He doesn't aspire to be socially prominent or to live the country club life; rather, he is content to live in the country and to try his hand at tree farming.

Carrie and Ron are drawn to each other and begin spending time together, despite the fact that the tongues of the snobby country club crowd are beginning to wag. When Ron takes her out to his tree farm, Carrie is fascinated by the old mill located on the property and tells him it would make a wonderful home for him and the wife he will one day have.

Several weeks later, Carrie is stunned to visit the mill and discover that Ron has begun renovating it and it is shaping up to be a beautiful home. He tells her he is doing it for her, for them...and he tells her he loves her and asks her to marry him. At first, Carrie turns him down, convinced that their different lifestyles and the age difference between them will prevent them from finding happiness. However, after Ron encourages her not to worry about what other people think and to take a chance on happiness, Carrie accepts his proposal and is blissfully happy.

When Carrie calls her college-age children home to share the news with them, she is unprepared for how violently they oppose such a union. Besides the fact that Ron is much younger than their mother, is the fact that socially he is not what she deserves. They are certain he could never fit in with the elite country club crowd Carrie has run in for years, and a cocktail party with said people proves they are right. The gossip mill is in full force when Carrie and Ron show up for a party, and ugly words about Carrie's fidelity to her deceased husband make their way to Carrie's daughter's ears. Both of Carrie's children tell her that such a marriage will shame them and totally ruin their lives.

Will Carrie reconsider?  Will she put aside other people's opinions and do what makes her happy?  These are the questions which play out in the balance of this sweet, tender film.



As noted, I don't care for Jane Wyman, but Rock more than makes up for that. I quite adore him---his gorgeous presence makes any movie enjoyable for me.  And this film is definitely sweet and lovely and even gets me mildly misty-eyed.  Out on DVD, it ought to be fairly easy to track down.  And, just FYI, Jane and Rock were paired together in another romantic tearjerker, Magnificent Obsession.  I highly recommend both that film and this one.

Happy viewing...and happy birthday, Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 - October 2, 1985)!!

The Lost Weekend (5 stars)

The Lost Weekend, from 1945, is a powerful, hard-hitting drama starring Ray Milland, in an Academy Award-winning role.  Directed by the amazing Billy Wilder, who also took home the Oscar for his work, this film boldly looks at the ugly world of alcoholism.  Besides Milland's Best Actor win and Wilder's Best Director win, The Lost Weekend also took home the Best Picture award that year.

Would-be novelist, Don Birnam (Milland), has had a drinking problem for several years, and though he has just gone ten days without a drink, things are about to take a turn for the worse.  His brother Wick and girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman), both of whom feel like they must police Don's every action, are manipulated into leaving Don alone for a few hours.  Since Wick had poured out the contents of the whiskey bottle and since Don has no money, Wick and Helen are sure Don will be fine for the couple hours he is alone.

Don's desperation for a drink, though, is stronger than anything else in his life, and upon discovering the $10 Wick had left for the cleaning woman, he heads out to satisfy his need.  Hitting bars and liquor stores, Don downs one drink after another.  Eventually, after he runs out of money, he resorts to begging, stealing a woman's purse, and hocking his typewriter in order to get the necessary cash for his next drink.  By Don's own admission, he's not a drinker...he's a drunk---and as the truth of that statement plays out, Don may well find his life in jeopardy. (This clip is one of Don's particularly tormenting episodes.)

The Lost Weekend is definitely not a feel-good movie.  On the contrary, it's ugly and painful...and extremely difficult to watch.  However, since I am one who loves a powerful, hard-hitting story, I think this film is a total masterpiece.  Everything about it is absolutely brilliant...Milland's acting, Wilder's direction, the cinematogrpahy, even the haunting, Oscar-nominated score.  Combining all those things, and adding in the boldness of such a story in 1945, this film is easily a 5-star film for me.  I cannot praise it highly enough.  (Movie trailer below)

This film is out on DVD, so it should be quite easy to track down.  Also, it is on the TCM schedule for March 30th, so you could catch it then.

Happy viewing!!