Thursday, August 7, 2008

Eye candy of the day: Let Us Be Gay

Norma in the "after" pictures from one of the most stunning make-overs in movie history. Do click on the high res on this one to see the amazing detail on that Adrian gown from Let Us Be Gay.

Norma Shearer may not have been the best actress in Hollywood in the early thirties, but she was certainly the bravest. It wasn't enough that she appeared occasionally in translucent gowns or that she made movies about women who dared to be as opportunistic and promiscuous as men. No, Norma did something Garbo, Harlow or Dietrich would have never dared. She appeared on screen for ten minutes without make-up, in frumpy clothes and glasses. I didn't even recognize her. I though she was the maid for the first two minutes of the movie--until she went downstairs and started giving orders to the maid that is. Kitty Brown is a woman who tries very hard to please her husband and treat him right, but he still runs around on her anyway. Confronted with the awful truth she throws him out. When next we see her she is transformed into Norma Shearer with bobbed hair, make up and sporty, sexy clothes. Mick La Salle wrote about the transformation saying that Shearer was suggesting to all women that they could be beautiful and glamorous and that her own beauty was somewhat manufactured. Nowadays when actresses ugly themselves up, they get Oscar nominations. Back then it was viewed as Norma competing against herself, her only real competition. She had to top the last movie she did, The Divorcee.

After Kitty Brown is transformed to Katharine Courtland Brown fashion designer, returning after three years in Paris, she finds herself at a week-end house party with her ex-husband. In one scene he asks to know what she's been up to and she says "like you I've been amusing myself with anything and everything. I know a man feels about those things now." Shearer plays the scene so that you don't know whether she is serious or winding him up. He clearly doesn't believe her and it takes finding two men in her bedroom to convince him that she hasn't been home knitting those clever cloche hats that she wears. Yet, by the end of the movie you are still are unclear whether Kitty is truly as worldly as she'd have her ex believe. She flirts so fast and continuously its almost as if she were inventing speed dating and she is just as deft at playing suitors so that they feel as if they are making progress without getting so much as a kiss from her.

Shearer's performance is a bit uneven and I'm inclined to think that's partly down to the varying quality of the other cast members. With an old pro like Marie Dressler she's fabulous and funny. With Rod La Rocque who plays her husband she struggles to find a rhythm. There are strange pauses and it feel like you are watching a play where people are late on their cues. And in a sense you are since since the screenplay was adapted from a stage play by Rachel Crothers.

14 comments:

AbbyNormal said...

You know, shame on me, I don't think I have ever watched a Norma Shearer movie. She sounds awesome in her bravado. Your post definitely makes me want to learn more about her.

Jennythenipper said...

I had only seen the women before this. Re-reading Mick laSalle's book made me want to see some of her older, more characteristic movies. I definitely recommend Let Us Be Gay. It's not a great film, but it is good enough and she is absolutely fascinating. Sadly TCM has not more Shearer movies scheduled for a while. I just picked up a Free Soul on Amazon marketplace. I'll send it along to you after I'm done with it.

kda0121 said...

I recorded Let Us Be Gay the other day on TCM. I hadn't gotten around to watching it, when I saw your latest "Eye Candy".

You're right, it's not a great movie, but I really like Norma. My favorite with her is The Women and I also like her a lot with Melvyn Douglas in We Were Dancing.

I always thought her acting was a bit animated. Maybe animated isn't the correct word; but full of poses and gestures. It's as if she never felt comfortable making the transition from silents to talkies.

I have several other movies with Norma, including A Free Soul and The Divorcee. She's not conventionally beautiful, yet I find her incredibly attractive. Perhaps it's my own eccentric tastes, I'm not sure. I know it's always fun watching her.

Jennythenipper said...

I agree she is overly mannered. Her little fake laugh that she gives continuously really grates, I think. I know what you mean. She is learning to act with a microphone and saying lines and that is a totally different animal than what she was doing. I think she just needed more time, maybe. She was only making one picture a year and she didn't have that many years before she retired. Someone like Coop was cranking out half a dozen a year. Same with Cary Grant. They had a lot more chance to learn the craft.

I also agree that she is watchable. She isn't contentionally pretty. She was pregnant and just starting to show in Let Us Be Gay and yet you believe she would be the center of everything.

Jennythenipper said...

She reminds me a little of Gillian Anderson.

kda0121 said...

I never noticed the Gillian Anderson resemblance till you mentioned. it. By golly, there is something there. In the nose and mouth, perhaps?

kda0121 said...

The eyes, also the eyes!

Jennythenipper said...

Yeah, so KDA, do you like Gillian Anderson, too?

Mick LaSalle is obsessed with Norma Shearer and I was listening to his podcast recently and he started going on about how awesome Gillian Anderson is the X-files and then I realized, duh. She looks like Norma shearer.

kda0121 said...

I was never into X Files. Maybe watched an episode and a half. But, yes, Gillian is the cat's meow.

AbbyNormal said...

I had to come back and add that I believe Gillian is very pretty and I love the X-Files. I wasn't a fan while it was on originally, but a few years ago watched Seasons 1 - 4 on DVD. Most excellent!

Nancy "Beaky" Bruce said...

My favorite Norma Shearer talkies are Strange Interlude, Idiot's Delight, and Escape.
I enjoy The Women, but not because of her. (I am curious about this upcoming remake: Meg Ryan in the Mary Haines role; Eva Mendes in the Crystal/Joan Crawford role; and Annette Bening as Sylvia Fowler in Roz Russell's part.

She had been marvelous in the silents. Free Soul and The Divorcee are good movies but that awkwardness she had of posing.... It really did take her a while to adjust to sound.

Jennythenipper said...

I'm excited for the new version of The Women. Mick had a really excellent comment about it in his podcast a while back. He said that first of all the original is not that sacrosanct and could stand to be made over and secondly the new film will only raise the profile of the original and especially the wonderful actresses in it.

I normally completely ignore remakes unless they forced on me. (I saw the horrid remake of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town when it was part of a multi-feature line-up at the drive-in) but this is one I may go to see in the theater. TCM has cleverly scheduled the original on September 15th, opening week-end of the new movie.

Nancy "Beaky" Bruce said...

ugh... I put off the Deeds remake for a long time. I expected to hate it, and was okay with it. It's just a completely different movie to me.

Like that Grinch movie.

Which brings me to the scene on the where Jim Carrey's Grinch is throwing his little tantrum while sitting in his bed. He looks just like Doris Day to me.

Jennythenipper said...

Ha! Doris Day.

I guess I kind of agree on Deeds. If one can get past the distaste of Adam Sandler playing a role once done by Gary Cooper, it's not that bad.