One of Frank Borzage's very best films is also one of his least known. He made "Mannequin" in 1937 with Joan Crawford as the working-class girl who marries her childhood sweetheart, Alan Curtis, but he's a heel. Then she meets sweet self-made millionaire Spencer Tracy who's got a soft spot for her, so her heel of a husband comes up with a plan for her to divorce him and marry Tracy so they can split the money. It's a surprisingly tough little movie, (the title doesn't really do it justice), beautifully written by Lawrence Hazard from Katharine Brush's story and both Tracy and Crawford are superb.
This was Crawford when she was a real actress and at her least self-conscious and the movie came out in the same year that Tracy won his first Oscar for "Captain's Courageous", but he's so much better here. It's a lovely, naturalistic performance, very simple and direct, and it showed what a great romantic actor he was. Indeed, Borzage even managed to get a good performance out of Curtis as the heel. This is one Borzage picture that cries out for a revival.
The films reviewed here represent those I have liked or loved over the years. It is not a list of my favourite films but all the films reviewed here are worth seeing and worth seeking out. I know many of you won't agree with me on a lot of these but hopefully you will grant me, and the films that appear here, our place in the sun. Thanks for reading.
Friday, 1 March 2019
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