Mar 24, 2023
In this Dorothy McGuire Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode, a couple of disparate films: Elia Kazan's anti-semitism exposé drama, Gentleman's Agreement (1947), and a marital comedy about the hardships of being a doctor's wife, Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950). We discuss the qualities that McGuire brings to her most problematic character yet and that help make the character a possible audience identification figure for the audience. And then we discuss the "secret feminism" of Mother Didn't Tell Me's portrayal of the life of a middle-class housewife who finds herself "abandoned" by her husband and unable to share his professional life. Elise expresses admiration of McGuire's ability to whisper her way through a fight scene. From open didacticism to secret feminism: this episode has it all!
Time Codes:
0h 0m 45s: GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT (1947 [dir. Elia Kazan]
0h 31m 42s: MOTHER DIDN’T TELL ME (1950) [dir. Claude Binyon]
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* Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring
* 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 piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again”
* Check out Dave’s 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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