Dec 17, 2021
We bid Margaret Sullavan a sad farewell with her two final films, Cry 'Havoc' (1943), a very dark WWII propaganda film with an all-female main cast in which the Battle of Bataan meets Stage Door, and No Sad Songs for Me (1950), a peak-crazy woman's picture in the mode of The Shining Hour with a slyly progressive screenplay by Howard Koch. Sullavan manages to make having your man stolen from under your nose while dying and fighting fascists/propping up the empty shell-men of post-war America into a triumphant art form. Then: we give our Top 5 Sullavan performances. And in the Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto segment, we discuss and spoil Verhoeven's lesbian nuns/nympho mystic movie, Benedetta (2021), and Preminger's glorious film noir Fallen Angel (1945).
Time Codes:
0h 01m 00s: CRY HAVOC (1943) [dir. Richard Thorpe]
0h 20m 16s: NO SAD SONGS FOR ME (1950) [dir. Rudolph Maté]
0h 38m 54s: Margaret SullavanTop Fives
0h 00m 00s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto – BENEDETTA (2021) and FALLEN ANGEL (1945)
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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s
* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)
* Read Elise’s latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.
* Check out Dave’s new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!
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