DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
Members' Mausoleum => Calendar Events / Announcements Archive => Calendar Events / Announcements '24 I => Calendar Events / Announcements '02 I => Topic started by: Julian on May 31, 2002, 04:30:23 PM
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I've always enjoyed Joan Bennett on Dark Shadows, but other than Father of the Bride, I've never seen any of her other film roles (except, of course, the Dark Shadows movie) I just watched videos of two of her starring roles under the direction of Fritz Lang - Scarlett Street and Secret Beyond the Door. Joan more than holds her own in both films opposite Edward G. Robinson and Michael Redgrave, both very respected actors. Joan is not what I'd call a very showy actress, she uses subtle changes in her voice and facial expression to convey her characters mood. She is really an extremely attractive woman and if she'd had the right material I think she could have had a bigger film reputation than she has. Both of these films suffer from scripts that grow increasingly bizzare. As a side note, in Secret Beyond the Door, Joan marries a mysterious character who fails to tell her he has a son - a rather troubled, strange boy named David!
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Bizarre was Fritz Lang's stock in trade. The more twisted and tormented the characters were, the better he liked it, apparently. Watch "The Blue Angel" some time. If you REALLY want to see Lang doing what he did best, watch "M" with Peter Lorre.
As for Ms. Bennett.....back then all performers were typecast, almost immediately, and hardly ever allowed out of their little niche. If I'm not mistaken, it was her sister Constance Bennett who was the light-hearted ingenue, and Joan Bennet was the serious, prim daughter of Society.
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I have not seen any of her films in years. But I think she has IT. A presence. If she walks into a room you notice her. I also love her voice, the way she carries herself and the way she wears clothes. :D
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Little Women was on a few weeks ago and she was good in that!(my favorite version!)I love Father of the Bride!both Lizs at their best! the sequel was great too!
jennifer
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She is really an extremely attractive woman and if she'd had the right material I think she could have had a bigger film reputation than she has.
Actually, Joan Bennett had a very impressive film career, spanning from classics like Little Women to Father of the Bride. She was also one of the many actresses up for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (she came thisclose to landing the part).
Bennett's film career was cut short by something of a scandal. While married to producer Walter Wanger she had an affair w/her agent. Hubby found her and her lover in a car and shot the guy between the legs. He went to jail for it but Bennett did not divorce him.
Joan probably very much appreciated the cushy job she had on Dark Shadows. She was quoted as saying she never cared much for acting, but loved being a star! And that she was.
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She even did musicals, such as 1935's classic "Mississippi" with co stars Bing Crosby and WC Fields. Now there's a trio! ;D
--Janet's other 1/2--
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As for Ms. Bennett.....back then all performers were typecast, almost immediately, and hardly ever allowed out of their little niche. If I'm not mistaken, it was her sister Constance Bennett who was the light-hearted ingenue, and Joan Bennet was the serious, prim daughter of Society.
Bennett started out with fairly lackluster parts. She was blonde then and Constance had the limelight. I tend not to like blonde Joan. Every so often she has a couple of good scenes, but the films are generally so-so and she is just sort of there.
Brunette Joan (she wore a dark wig for "Trade Winds" and it proved so popular she turned brunette) is an entirely different matter. I'm not sure why, but her film roles got better. Much better.
I adore "Secret Beyond the Door"--my friend calls it the most Joan Bennett of all Joan Bennett films, but it's not her best work with Fritz Lang, IMHO. That I think was "Scarlet Street." Bennett's heartless Kitty is quite the piece of work (that scene where she's spitting grape seeds across the room is something else). "The Woman in the Window" is another must see.
Her absolutely best film work, IMHO, is in Max Ophul's "The Reckless Moment." It's next to impossible to find. They almost never air it and the only copy I have ever come across was a bootleg on eBay. It's a great little film noir and she and James Mason were superb.
Another albeit less than stellar work (it's pretty bad overall) is Jean Renoir's "Woman on the Beach." Robert Ryan is surprisingly inept, but Bennett and Charles Bickford are great.
Luciaphil (ardent Joan Bennett fan)
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Bennett started out with fairly lackluster parts. She was blonde then and Constance had the limelight. I tend not to like blonde Joan.
Brunette Joan (she wore a dark wig for "Trade Winds" and it proved so popular she turned brunette) is an entirely different matter. I'm not sure why, but her film roles got better. Much better.
Luciaphil (ardent Joan Bennett fan)
Welcome back Luciaphil! :)
My dad tells me that story all the time about how J.B. use to be a blonde until she wore a black wig in that movie Trade Winds.
Years ago, she lived here in Yonkers with her first husband and my dad use to deliver mail to the house. He says it was the most beautiful house you could imagine.
She always looked so radiant & lovely with black hair so it's hard for me to imagine her as a blonde. Just by watching some of her old films, you could tell she was a very classy lady.
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She is really an extremely attractive woman and if she'd had the right material I think she could have had a bigger film reputation than she has.
I agree! I'm also a big fan of (as Luciaphil has called her) La Bennett.
Here's the picture from "Disraeli" that Entertainment Weekly included in their pre-Oscar edition. The movie was made in 1929, so she was 19??!!
(http://www.dsboards.com/images/JB.jpg)
Bizarre was Fritz Lang's stock in trade. The more twisted and tormented the characters were, the better he liked it, apparently. Watch "The Blue Angel" some time.
"The Blue Angel" was Fritz Lang's? ?!?
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Good catch, Midnite....my apologies...."The Blue Angel" was a Josef von Sternberg film. It's a stunning portrayal of a tormented character (Prof. Roth, portrayed by Emil Jannings), but NOT one of Lang's.
If any one is into old black and white noir films, Fritz Lang's "M" is about as creepy a psychological horror film as you are likely to find. Peter Lorre was brilliant as a demented child murderer.....and then he came to Hollywood and they turned him into a cartoon. :P
Raineypark
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Oh what a fun thread! I knew the gossip part, but didn't realize that she was actually blonde. I hate to say this, but I can't remember if she was blonde or brunette in Little Women. I know I always think of Amy as a blonde, so I assume she was....
I wouldn't have guessed by her coloring that she had changed it drastically. Unlike Lara Parker with the brown wombat on her head as Cassandra.
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WOW !!!
what a photo! That guy makes barnabas look like a ken doll.
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WOW !!!
what a photo! That guy makes barnabas look like a ken doll.
LOL!
Since I've been asked about it, I decided I should probably explain here too why the personal situation described in this thread doesn't violate the forum guideline (#7) that pertains to gossip. It has always been this board's policy to not contribute to the spreading of gossip or to invade any star's privacy, but in this case the incident is a matter of public record, it has been dissected by every form of media, and it's described in detail in any biography one might pick up about Walter Wanger and most of Joan Bennett's too.
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One of my favorite Joan Bennett films is THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, also starring Edward G. Robinson. It was sort of a follow-up to SCARLET STREET, and, IMHO, a much better film--with a wonderfully fun twist ending. It's hard to find, but TCM aired it many months ago, so watch their listings.
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Oh what a fun thread! I knew the gossip part, but didn't realize that she was actually blonde. I hate to say this, but I can't remember if she was blonde or brunette in Little Women. I know I always think of Amy as a blonde, so I assume she was....
According to Lulu in Hollywood the late Louise Brooks (who was good friends with Barbara Bennett, third sister of Joan and mother of Morton Downey, Jr.), Joan was a brunette originally.
She probably went blonde at the time because everyone under the sun was going blonde. Personally, I think she looks better with her original hair color :)
Luciaphil
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Her absolutely best film work, IMHO, is in Max Ophul's "The Reckless Moment." It's next to impossible to find. They almost never air it and the only copy I have ever come across was a bootleg on eBay. It's a great little film noir and she and James Mason were superb.
Oh-oh, I had that on tape when it ran as a late-night movie on a local station about a year ago. I started watching it but couldn't quite get into it, and I think I then taped something else over it. I remember it was strange to see Joan Bennet so young ... as with another movie of hers that I caught a few minutes of a week or so ago, I recognized her voice and her movement/stance before realizing it was her. I didn't know the movie was by Ophul.
I wonder how it works that some small local stations have had some of these gems on hand but TCM and AMC don't. I'm thinking in particular of an old favorite I'd give anything to have a copy of, "Return from the Ashes" with Ingrid Thulin (alumna of Bergman films) and Maximilian Schell.